ILOILO – Mayor Macario Napulan of Miag-ao town slammed the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 for informing him late about the third confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in his municipality.
Had he been informed much earlier, Napulan said, he could have immediately ordered the patient’s isolation to protect other members of the family, and launched contract tracing quickly.
Miag-ao’s third COVID-19 case was a 21-year-old male – grandson of the town’s second case, a 94-year-old male (Western Visayas’ Patient No. 31) who died on April 8.
“Nga-a wala dayun gin-release ang result? Tani nakahimu kita pamaagi nga indi na maglapta,” said Napulan, a physician.
Specimen from the grandson was taken on April 8 for testing at the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City.
Napulan said the result came out on April 10 but he was informed about it by DOH-6 only on April 15.
He could not help but express his frustration over the delay, he added.
The 21-year-old grandson is Western Visayas’ COVID-19 Patient No. 42 and Iloilo province’s 16th case. He is also considered the region’s youngest coronavirus patient so far.
His last contract with his grandfather (the region’s oldest COVID patient) was on March 28 when the old man was confined at a government hospital.
According to Napulan, the grandson, despite being asymptomatic (not showing symptoms), asked that he be taken to a hospital so that his health could be better monitored.
Specimens were also taken from six other members of the family for testing, revealed the mayor; the results were yet to be released as of this writing.
To make up for lost time, Napulan recommended to the Municipal Health Office the conduct of rapid testing on all close contacts of the grandson’s family members.
“Then kutob sang mag-positive ipa-swab ta liwat for confirmatory testing,” said Napulan.
The mayor also ordered a lockdown of the grandson’s barangay to slow down if not prevent virus transmission.
The first COVID-19-confirmed case in Miag-ao was a 21-year-old female (the region’s Patient No. 12).
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough.
Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth./PN
