Bacolod’s first COVID-19 patient ‘cured’

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said Sunday that the first COVID-19 patient in the city has recovered after his second swab test was negative.

The patient is a 56- year-old male with a travel history to the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Sunday that the first COVID-19 positive patient in the province was about to be discharged from the hospital when the swab test result came out Saturday indicating that she was positive for the virus.

Lacson said the patient will have to take another swab test on April 2, 2020.

The governor also explained that the patient, a 41- year-old female from Barangay 2 in Poblacion of EB Magalona town went on home quarantine after she arrived in the province last March 14.

She stayed at the staffhouse of their office, he added.

Lacson said the patient had herself admitted to the hospital after she suffered from cough and fever.

The patient has travel histories to Manila and Davao.

Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Provincial Health Officer, said that the area in EB Magalona where the COVID -19 patient lives will be declared a “hot zone.”

Tumimbang said police will cordon a 200-meter radius in the area. No one will be allowed to go in and out. Contact tracing of persons who were exposed to the patient will also be conducted.

Meanwhile, Tumimbang also confirmed that a doctor in Cadiz City District Hospital is considered a Person under Investigation (PUI) for COVID-19.

He said the doctor has not reported for duty and is on quarantine.