DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — A 40-year-old seafarer who arrived from the United States mid-April and then went to his hometown last week became the second COVID-19 case in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Dr. Raygene Madronero, Santa Cruz municipal health officer, said the seaman, before traveling to Manila and then leaving for the US, had two reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test which returned negative results.
On June 6, he took a flight from Manila to Davao City where he was fetched by local health workers and brought to an isolation unit in Sana Cruz.
He then underwent rapid diagnostic test.
Madronero said the seafarer turned out positive for IgM and IgG antibodies hence, was immediately referred to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SMPC) in Davao City where he was swabbed for confirmatory RT-PCR testing.
On June 10, his test returned positive.
Local health officials assured that all frontliners who attended to the patient since his arrival had observed all safety measures.
Still, health workers had started tracing other close contacts of the seaman.
So far, Davao del Sur has 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of these, 12 have recovered while four are still on isolation.
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