Cotabato City nurse, 5 others are new COVID-19 cases in Soccsksargen
COTABATO CITY– A nurse working at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) and five others are the latest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in the Soccsksargen region, a health official said Sunday.
Dr. Meyasser Patadon, Cotabato City health officer, said the 23-year-old female nurse who remains without symptoms and in stable condition became the second CRMC health worker to test positive for COVID-19. She was exposed to Cotabato City’s patient No. 23, who is a service engineer from Las Piñas City working in one of the isolation facilities inside the hospital compound. The service engineer tested positive for COVID-19 on July 22.
Patadon said the nurse has already been isolated at the CRMC isolation facility.
Earlier, a 36-year-old female nurse who belonged to CRMC’s first batch of health frontliners to be subjected to RT-PCR tests also tested positive for SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The frontliners were exposed to patients who were admitted to the hospital for non-COVID-19 diseases but who later became positive for COVID-19.
CRMC has temporarily shut down the services of its ICU, outpatient department, and emergency rooms for disinfection and decontamination, according to Dr. Helen Yambao, CRMC chief.
Article continues after this advertisementYambao said the hospital will only entertain emergency and life-threatening cases as most of its healthcare workers are still on quarantine and its facilities are being disinfected.
Article continues after this advertisementAmong the other five persons who also tested positive for COVID-19 in the region are three from General Santos City and one each from Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.
The new cases raised to 204 the total number of COVID-19 patients in the region. Of the total, 98 patients have already recovered, health officials said.
As of Sunday, Sarangani posted the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 46; followed by South Cotabato, 40; North Cotabato, 33; Sultan Kudarat, 33; Cotabato City, 26; and Gen. Santos City, 26.
In the Bangsamoro region, the Ministry of Health reported six new confirmed cases, raising the region’s total COVID-19 cases to 429.
Dr. Safrullah Dipatuan, BARMM health minister, said Lanao del Sur and Marawi City posted the highest number of patients at 177.
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