Quezon town logs first COVID-19 case in 1 and a half months

FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Sergio Perez

LUCENA CITY – A 43-year-old man became the first coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in San Narciso, Quezon province since December 1, 2020.

The local health office of San Narciso announced on social media that a resident of Barangay Abuyon tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, Jan. 16.

The resident submitted to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laboratory test on Friday.

Records from San Narciso rural health unit showed that the patient is the 9th recorded COVID-19 case in the locality.

The municipality, located in the Bondoc Peninsula district had been COVID-19 free after its 8th patient who contracted the virus on Nov. 19 had recovered on Dec. 1.

The patient, who shows mild symptoms like cough and lack of smell and taste, had a travel history to Lucena City and Sariaya town on Jan. 4.

After few days, the patient started to exhibit symptoms associated with the coronavirus. The patient is confined in an undisclosed private hospital.

Local health authorities have been conducting aggressive contact tracing to prevent the spread of the virus.

As of Sunday, 16 of 41 Quezon towns have had no new COVID-19 case, down from 20 towns earlier listed as free of the disease.

Quezon, under modified general community quarantine status, has recorded a total of 6,631 COVID-19 cases, the 10 a.m. Sunday bulletin issued by the Quezon public information office (QPIO) showed.

At least 6,030 have recovered, and 205 others died. The province also has 396 remaining active virus carriers.

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