Davao Region’s 1st coronavirus patient to be sent home after testing negative

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in the Davao Region will be discharged anytime Monday, March 23, after her second test turned out negative.

The Davao de Oro Emergency Operations Center said PH130, a 21-year-old female from Pantukan, Davao de Oro, has recovered from COVID-19 – the disease caused by the novel coronavirus – and will be discharged today.

Mitzie Lou Osabel, infectious disease specialist and head of the emerging and reemerging infectious disease control team of the Davao Region Medical Center, said PH130 had apparently recovered from the virus.

“The result of her second swab testing is already negative,” Osabel said.

She said the Davao de Oro government had been furnished with the result of the test and that the mayor of Pantukan had also been informed of the patient’s status.

Two more confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region were put in isolation. The couple, both 47, arrived from Manila on March 6.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said two more persons are under investigation, but doctors suspected that they had the virus. The two went to a cockfight in Barangay Matina here. 

As of Monday, the Philippines has a total of 462 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with 33 deaths and 18 recoveries.

The global death toll, meanwhile, has reached at least 14,396, with at least 5,476 of the fatalities in Italy and 3,261 in China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau). The number of cases worldwide has risen to more than 324,000, with more than 81,000 cases in China and 59,000 cases in Italy. The virus has spread to 171 countries. – with a report from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com