BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the health department (DOH-CAR) disclosed that four provinces in the region remain free from the dreaded Corona virus Disease (COVID) 2019 even at the height of the implementation of the Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine.
DOH-CAR regional director Dr. Amelita M. Pangilinan stated that the COVID-free provinces are Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province while the areas that recorded confirmed COVID cases include Baguio with 13 and Benguet and Abra with 3 cases each.
Of the 19 confirmed COVID cases in the region, 5 individuals have already recovered from the deadly virus where 3 cases are from Baguio City and 1 case each from Benguet and Abra.
The DOH-Car added that there are some 845 persons under investigation (PUIs) in the region where 39 are still admitted in various health facilities, 291 are undergoing the 14-day strict home quarantine and 515 persons were already discharged and given a clean bill of health.
Those that were able to recover from the contagious virus include a 55-year old male from Metro Manila who had history of travel from their place to Baguio city, a 61-year old female from Baguio City who arrived in the city from Italy, a 70-year old female from Baguio who had history of travel outside the city, a 6-year old female from Benguet who had history of travel to Cavite and a 39-year old semen from Manabo, Abra who arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Benguet accounted for the most number of PUIs with 392 where 14 persons are confined in health facilities, 159 are undergoing strict home quarantine and 219 individuals were discharged; Baguio has 234 PUIs where 17 patients are admitted in health facilities, 91 are undergoing strict home quarantine and 126 individuals were discharged; Abra has 63 PUIs where 1 is confined in a health facility, 14 people are undergoing home quarantine and 48 individuals were discharged; Apayao has 59 PUIs where 3 persons are confined in health facilities, 8 people are undergoing strict home quarantine and 48 individuals have been discharged; Kalinga has 48 PUIs where 1 person is confined in a health facility, 7 people are undergoing strict home quarantine and 40 individuals have been discharged; Mountain Province has 39 PUIs where 3 persons are confined in health facilities, 10 people are undergoing strict home quarantine and 26 individuals have been discharged and Ifugao had 10 PUIs where no one is confined in a health facility, 2 people are undergoing home quarantine and 8 individuals were discharged.
Pangilinan said that with the accreditation of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) as one of the numerous sub-national testing laboratories in the country, the release of the test results of new confirmed cases could be done the soonest, particularly in one to two days, so that there will be real time data on the number of COVID cases in the different parts of the region at the last stretch of the Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine.
Earlier, the Manila-based Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) validated the capability of BGHMC to undertake the screening and confirmatory tests of the swab samples of PUIs where the said hospital was able to prove that it was capable of doing so that caused the issuance of its accreditation.
By Dexter A. See
