Month-old baby from Bataan tests positive for coronavirus

PAMPANGA, Philippines – A month-old baby is among the 4 new cases of novel coronavirus in Bataan province.

In an announcement via his Facebook page on Sunday afternoon, April 5, Bataan Governor Albert Garcia said that the baby boy is from Mariveles town.

He is the youngest COVID-19 patient in Central Luzon. Rappler is confirming with the Department of Health (DOH) if the infant is the youngest coronavirus case in the country to date.

On March 27, a 21-month old girl from Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro was tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Garcia said that the Bataan provincial government received the infant’s test rest result on Sunday, along with the test results of 3 other persons found positive for COVID-19. They include:

• a 55-year-old man from Orani town who died on April 2 due to brain herniation
• a 28-year-old man from Mariveles town
• a 38-year-old man from Limay town

Mariveles Mayor Jocelyn Castañeda said in a Facebook post on Sunday that the 1-month-old baby with coronavirus is from Barangay Batangas 2 while the 28-year-old man is from Barangay Alion.

“Bagama’t nais po sana natin na huwag nang banggitin ang mga barangay kung saan sila nakatira sa kadahilanang ayaw po sana nating may mga salitang hindi maganda ang maaaring ibato sa mga barangay kung nasaan sila subali’t sa ngalan po ng pagiging bukas sa inyong lahat at upang makapag-ingat po lalo ang lahat, kaya mas makakabuti na inihayag na rin po natin ito,” the mayor said.

(While we prefer not to mention the villages where the patients live because we want to avoid hurtful words that could be said, we need to be transparent so that everyone can take extraprecautions. We deemed that it would be for everyone’s good to share this information.)

(READ: Coronavirus patients urged to waive confidentiality: ‘Being diagnosed not a crime, stigma’)

Castañeda assured her constituents that the necessary contact tracing and disinfection were undertaken by the municipal health office. She also appealed to the townsfolk to be more humane and not resort to discrimination and avoid spreading fake news.

As of April 5, Bataan recorded 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 6 of them have recovered and were already discharged from hospitals while 3 have died.

Garcia said that the 6 patients who recovered from the dreaded viral disease are currently on post-admission quarantine.

The number of patients under investigation (PUIs) with severe symptoms in Bataan is at 124, mild PUIs at 807, and 3,575 are persons under monitoring (PUMs). – Rappler.com