Leyte province reports first confirmed coronavirus case

LEYTE, Philippines – The province of Leyte confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday, April 17. 

This brings the total in the Eastern Visayas region to 5. (READ: First coronavirus case confirmed in the Eastern Visayas) 

DOH-8 director Minerva Molon confirmed that the patient is a 58-year-old female from Burauen town, who had travelled to Guam in February and Manila last March 9.

The patient stayed in Manila for 2 days and then arrived in Leyte on March 13, where she was fetched by a private vehicle. Her friends and relatives were also in that vehicle.

So far, none of those passengers have symptoms of respiratory illness.

The positive patient first experienced sore throat on March 23. This was followed by fever, headache and vomting. She then consulted the rural health unit of her town. She was eventually admitted as a patient under investigation at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center. 

She was advised strict home isolation and followed the protocols.

“April 6 was supposed to be the end of her isolation,” Molon said.

However, the patient continued to isolate herself becuase her symptoms persisted.

On April 8, she was tested positive for COVID-19 in a rapid test. She was later tested twice and yielded the same positive results.

Her sample for a confirmatory test was sent to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu on April 13. This came back positive on April 17.

She was transffered immediately to a referral hospital for observation and management.

Currently, there are 216 suspected cases in Eastern Visayas, with 12 deaths of those with severe acute respiratory illnesses. However, the deaths recorded have not yet been confirmed to be linked to coronavirus.

According to latest data released by the DOH, there are 5,660 confirmed cases in the Philippines with 362 deaths and 435 recoveries – Rappler.com