LUCENA CITY – The province of Romblon recorded two new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients, one of them the first case in the town of San Agustin since the pandemic broke out a year ago, authorities reported on Tuesday, March 2.
The Tablas Island District Hospital (TIDH) in San Agustin announced on its Facebook page that the Covid-19 patient sought consultation on Feb. 23 due to fever and loose bowel movement.
The patient submitted herself to reverse the transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test as a matter of hospital protocol and was tested positive of the SARS-Cov2, the virus that causes the disease.
The validated virus carrier had no recent history of travel outside of the locality and thus, considered as a case of “local” transmission.
Authorities said the asymptomatic virus carrier is in stable condition and is waiting for the completion of the mandatory 14-day quarantine in an isolated room before her discharge.
San Agustin, with a population of 22,500 as of 2015 census, is located in Tablas island along with the municipalities of Calatrava, San Andres, Odiongan, Ferrol, Santa Fe, Looc, Alcantara and Santa Maria.
The Romblon provincial health office, in its 10 a.m. report on March 2, has recorded 140 Covid-19 cases including the sole confirmed virus carrier in San Agustin and another new case from Romblon town.
The latest two validated virus carriers were the only “positives” in a batch of 36 new test results.
A total of 130 Covid-19 patients in the province have recovered while three passed away.
Health authorities said as of March 2, 99 of the recorded cases are classified as “local” while 41 are “imported.”
“Local” Covid-19 patients are those without a history of travel outside of the province prior to their validation as virus carrier while “imported” cases are those who got their infection outside of the province.
Romblon still has seven remaining active virus carriers, six of them are residents of Romblon town.
The 12 other towns in the province are now considered virus-free as they no longer have any active cases as of March 1. Those previously infected in these localities have either recovered or had died, the report showed.
Only the towns of Banton, Corcuera, and Ferrol have no recorded Covid-19 cases since the pandemic was declared in March last year.