ILOILO City – Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Western Visayas rose to 105 yesterday, according to the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
The latest case was a 32-year-old male healthcare worker from Roxas City. He was on home quarantine.
But there was good news, too – 70 of the cases have fully recovered, according to Dr. Ma. Julia Villanueva, assistant regional director.
How the region’s Patient 105 got infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was unclear. He had no exposure to a COVID-19-positive patient, according to Villanueva.
The patient had fever on May 14 and had himself checked by a hospital the following day.
On May 19 specimens were extracted from the healthcare worker for COVID-19 testing. The positive result was released yesterday.
With this new case, the number of healthcare workers in Region 6 that became sick with COVID-19 rose to 11, said Villanueva.
In DOH’s COVID-19 pandemic lingo, “healthcare worker” does not only refer to doctors, nurses and medical technologists. They also include drivers of ambulances, emergency responders and barangay health workers, said Villanueva.
Nationwide, healthcare workers who have recovered from COVID-19 reached over 1,000 as of May 19, the DOH central office announced. It recorded 44 more medical frontliners who beat the deadly respiratory disease, raising the total to 1,018.
As to Western Visayas’ COVID-19 patients who have recovered, DOH-6 recorded four more yesterday, bringing the number to 70.
The four latest recovered patients were the following:
* 61-year-old female from La Paz, Iloilo City (Patient No. 55)
* 50-year-old male from Molo, Iloilo City (Patient No. 94), repatriate
* 30-year-old male from La Paz, Iloilo City (Patient No. 95), repatriate
* 23-year-old male from City Proper, Iloilo City (Patient No. 96), repatriate
According to Villanueva, the 70 patients who recovered made up 67 percent of the region’s 105 COVID-19 cases.
As of yesterday, May 20, Western Visayas had 25 remaining “active” COVID-19 cases. They were from the following areas:
* Antique – four
* Capiz – one
* Iloilo province – two
* Negros Occidental – one
* Iloilo City – six
* repatriates – 11
The region’s number of COVID-19 deaths still stood at 10.
Villanueva stressed the importance of wearing facemasks, observing social distancing and frequent hand-washing to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
She also reminded the public to observe coughing and sneezing etiquette.
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.
Possible vaccines and some specific drug treatments are under investigation. They are being tested through clinical trials. The World Health Organization is coordinating efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19./PN
