Infant, mother among 9 observed for coronavirus in Cordillera

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – A 10-month-old baby and her mother are among the 9 persons under investigation (PUI) for the coronavirus in the Cordillera region.  

Amelia Pangilinan, acting regional director of the Department of Health-Cordillera, said on Wednesday, February 12, that the spike in the number of PUI is nothing to worry about as all of them voluntarily brought themselves in as part of “health seeking behavior.”  

Three of the 9 are in Baguio while 3 others are in Abra. The rest are from Mountain Province and Benguet.  

The 5 previous PUI have been discharged. They included a Chinese student who came from a province near Wuhan, the ground zero of Covid-19. 

The infant and her mother just happened to make a stop-over in Hongkong. Many of the 9 also have history of travel to China, Pangilinan said. 

Some of them are domestic help while one is an English teacher in China who happens to be on vacation.  

Cagayan Valley remains to have the most number of PUI in Northern Luzon with 18 and no one discharged yet.  

Pangasinan also had its first PUI, a 28-year-old woman from Lingayen town who went to Taiwan for a vacation.

As of morning of Wednesday, February 12, there are 382 patients under investigation in the Philippines. Of the 3 confirmed cases, one died due to pneumonia, while the two others were discharged – meaning, they tested negative twice already.

Abroad, 6 Filipinos are confirmed to have contracted the virus: one the United Arab Emirates and 5 in Japan.

Globally, 1,115 deaths and 45,170 cases, with 4,794 recoveries, have been recorded as of Friday morning. – Rappler.com