Soccsksargen PUI case cleared of n-CoV symptoms

NCOV MEASURES --- General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera (right) assures that the city government, in coordination with the Department of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine, has been closely monitoring passengers arriving at the City International Airport in line with the heightened alert against the novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease.The DOH says a patient is currently under investigation while nine others are being monitored in the city for the 2019-nCoV. (File photo courtesy of the city government)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY ---The first reported patient under investigation (PUI) for the novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019 n-CoV) in Soccsksargen has already recovered from earlier symptoms but remains in medical isolation. 

Arjohn Gangoso, health education and promotion officer of the Department of Health (DOH) in Region-12, said last February 3 that  the patient’s cough and sore throat have so far healed and no other possible signs and symptoms of the disease were recorded based on the latest medical bulletin.

Gangoso said the female Filipino patient will complete Monday (February 10) her 14-day mandatory quarantine in an undisclosed hospital here but will continue to be under observation protocol pending the release of the confirmatory test from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

“We’re expecting the results to come out within the week,” Gangoso said in an interview.

A report released by DOH-12 late Sunday (February 9) night said the patient had recently traveled to Macao, China and arrived in the country last January 27. The patient had sore throat and cough but had no fever when she arrived at the City International Airport via a flight from Cebu the other week.

Gangoso said the patient voluntarily submitted herself to quarantine upon arrival due to her symptoms and was declared a PUI due to her history of travel to China, the center of the 2019 n-CoV outbreak.

Aware of the risks, he said the patient had been wearing a protective mask and practicing proper sanitation measures like regular hand washing.

Gangoso assured that local health personnel are on top of the situation and strict infection and control measures are being implemented for the PUI.

He reiterated that the public should not panic and stay vigilant in disseminating the right information to “prevent the spread of fake news.”

Aside from the lone PUI, the City Health Office has reported at least nine persons under monitoring (PUM) in the area for 2019 n-CoV.

The PUMs have a history of travel to countries with confirmed cases of the disease but did not exhibit signs and symptoms. (RICHELYN GUBALANI, PNA - MINDANAO EXPOSE')