Palawan town has 2 new COVID-19 patients

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY –– An asymptomatic 72-year-old female locally stranded returnee became the oldest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in Palawan province, with two new fresh cases recorded in Coron town on Wednesday.

Dr. Allan Guintapan, chief of the Coron Municipal Health Office, said the recent cases were locally stranded returnees, including the woman and a 21-year-old male.

The female patient in Coron is known to be hypertensive. She was reactive to the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) upon her arrival from Metro Manila on July 11 aboard a 2Go shipping vessel.

Guintapan added that the male patient started showing symptoms on July 7 while still in Manila. “… he had fever and muscle pain while still in Manila. Based on his history, we immediately isolated him based on his symptoms within two weeks prior. He was negative in RDT,” Guintapan said in Filipino.

Coron had discharged all its previous COVID-19 patients last week after they were deemed recovered.

Palawan province had recorded a total of 55 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 29 of which were active, with 25 recoveries, and one death.

During Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat’s visit to Palawan on July 3, she said that the tourism department was eyeing to reopen three tourist destinations in Palawan, including Coron, San Vicente, and El Nido.

LZB