BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental’s first case of the Delta variant of the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tested negative after re-swabbing.
Also, the patient’s family members were no longer required to undergo re-swab after getting their result on Aug. 27 showing that they, too, were negative for the viral disease, according to Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, head of the Provincial Health Office (PHO).
The patient, a 52-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from the United Arab Emirates, arrived in the Philippines on July 20 and was quarantined in Metro Manila.
During his quarantine, the patient’s reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test yielded a positive result, but by Aug. 11 he was discharged from his facility and given a certificate showing he had fully recovered.
On the same day, the patient traveled back to Negros Occidental, although he was quarantined anew in two different hotels in Bacolod prior to returning to his home in Talisay City.
On Aug. 25, the local government unit received the result from the Philippine Genome Center indicating that the patient was infected with the Delta variant.
Aside from the more transmissible variant, the province also previously recorded its first case of the Lambda variant, which was also the first reported case in the country./PN
