Valenzuela City records 1st COVID-19 case

MANILA, Philippines — Valenzuela City has recorded its first confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case.

The city government announced on Thursday that its first COVID-19 case is a 34-year-old Filipino female who has no travel history but was exposed to someone who had traveled to Malaysia.

“As of March 19, 2020, Valenzuela City now has a positive case of COVID-19. A female patient, 34 years old, consulted a private hospital in Manila after experiencing sore throat and fever,” it said in a Facebook post.

The patient consulted a private hospital in Manila after experiencing sore throat and fever. Currently, she has mild flu-like symptoms and is under strict home quarantine, the city government said.

It is already conducting contact tracing and monitoring those who were in close contact with the patient.

https://www.facebook.com/100985303377/posts/10159620734418378/?d=n

At present, there are 202 individuals who were confirmed to have contracted the disease, with 17 deaths and seven recoveries.

READ: COVID-19 deaths in PH now at 17

READ: 15 new COVID-19 cases bring total to 202

Most people who have COVID-19 can recover as its symptoms are mild, such as fever and cough. But the illness can be more serious for others, possibly leading to pneumonia, especially the older adults and those with existing health problems.

The World Health Organization declared the disease as a global pandemic after it killed nearly 5,000 people and infected 110,000 others worldwide.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

The virus causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.

/MUF