2 health workers infected, added to Digos’ COVID-19 list

DIGOS CITY—Two health workers on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 had been added to the city’s tally of coronavirus infections, according to local health officials.

Dr. Ronald Jumilla, chief of the City Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (CESU), said the new patients are women, ages 31 and 32, and had been working at the provincial health office but deployed to the Davao del Sur Provincial Hospital (DSPH).

One is a medical technologist assigned to the DSPH’s coronavirus test sample collection center. The other is a nurse whose duty included packing the test samples from the hospital and other health units in the province and bringing these to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City, which houses a coronavirus testing facility.

Health officials said both patients had not shown symptoms but are currently now confined in the DSPH quarantine unit. All their close contacts are being traced.

As of July 22, Digos City has a total of 17 COVID-19 cases and 12 cases of recoveries.

At least 28 persons with suspected infection are awaiting results of RT-PCR tests, which detect antigens, or signs of infection, instead of antibodies.

Edited by TSB