29-yr-old man is Valenzuela City’s 12th COVID-19 patient

MANILA, Philippines — A 29-year-old male resident of Valenzuela City has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the city’s total confirmed cases to 12.

In a statement, the Valenzuela City government said the patient, identified as VC12, has a history of known exposure to a COVID-19 positive patient. He is now confined in a hospital.

#COVID19 UPDATE: Valenzuela City Monitoring Report as of 5:00 pm, April 1, 2020 pic.twitter.com/hvV9cz4xdc

— Valenzuela City (@valenzuelacity) April 1, 2020

The Valenzuela City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) has started conducting contact tracing measures.

To date, the city has so far reported two COVID-19-related deaths with 163 patients under monitoring and 143 patients under investigation.

Valenzuela City residents who are experiencing symptoms, have a travel history and/or exposure to a possible COVID-19 patient, are urged to call the city’s #COVID19 hotline at 8352-5000.

Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 227 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infection in the country to 2,311.  Meanwhile, there are now 96 COVID-19 related deaths in the country while 50 managed to recover.

The novel coronavirus, which was first detected in Hubei, China late last year, causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but experts warned that older people with existing health problems are more vulnerable to the infectious respiratory illness.

To prevent infection, authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who show respiratory symptoms.