Student in Davao City, 2 others test positive for COVID-19

COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao, Philippines – Another resident here who has been studying in Davao City tested positive for COVID-19, making him the 18th patient in the Soccsksargen Region and the eighth COVID-19 case in this city, local and health officials said.

The Soccsksargen Region is composed of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City.

The 18-year old student who was stranded in Davao City during the lockdown only returned here on May 13, Wednesday, after the Cotabato City government arranged to have a vehicle ferry stranded residents.

Dr. Meyasser Patadon, Cotabato City health officer, said the patient was one of the 39 residents picked up by the city government bus under its “Balik Bahay” program.

“All of them, upon arrival, were subjected to rapid testing,” Patadon said. “Of the 39, four turned out positive in the rapid test so swabs were taken from them.”

Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said the student, who had already been placed in an isolation facility for treatment, was the second person who tested positive in three days here.

On Friday, May 15, a 26-year worker at the city government here also tested positive for the disease and had since been placed under quarantine.

Sayadi said six of the eight COVID-19 cases in this city had already recovered.

Across the Soccsargen Region, two more patients tested positive for COVID-19, the DOH Soccsksargen said.

The region’s 19th COVID-19 case is a 26-year-old man from South Cotabato. He is currently under quarantine inside a town’s isolation facility, his travel history still under investigation.

The 20th patient is a 43-year-old male from Cotabato province who has traveled to Misamis Oriental. He is now confined in a hospital where he remains stable.

/atm