Nurse tests positive for COVID-19 in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY –– A female nurse at the Ospital ng Palawan (ONP) has tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to Dr. Dean Palanca, city incident commander.

In a Saturday morning live press briefing aired on Facebook, Palanca said the patient is not a locally stranded individual or an overseas Filipino worker returnee, which makes her a candidate for “possible local transmission.” He said they were still investigating the case.

Dr. Audie Cipriano, chief of the ONP medical professional staff, said in an interview Friday night that the health worker is “symptomatic”, experiencing slight fever and occasional coughing.

“Before she was admitted to the isolation ward for COVID-19, she was on duty in other wards outside … area of the hospital. When she reported for duty on the first or second day of [June] 16, she showed signs and symptoms so she underwent testing by GeneXpert. It turned out positive,” Dr. Cipriano explained.

With the recent development, Cipriano said the ONP would be limiting its operations to emergency cases only starting next week to avoid exposing patients and other health workers.

He said the operation that might be affected by this is the Outpatient Department that caters to people, who visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment, and do not require admission.

“Starting Monday, I will advice the head of OPD to start informing our clientele that this will happen,” he said.

To date, Palawan has a total of 12 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 10 of them active, including the healthcare worker whose virus origin is yet to be determined.

LZB