THE recent case of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Northern Mindanao was a person who availed of the Balik Probinsya program in Cebu City.

On May 19, 2020, 111 persons stranded in Cebu and other parts of the country were transported back to Mindanao. Nine of the batch are Iligan City residents, including the person who tested positive for Covid-19.

Cebu City Health Officer Daisy Villa said the Covid-19 patient yielded a negative result for Covid-19 in the the rapid diagnostic test.

“He was negative for both IgG and IgM,” said Villa. (IgG and IgM antibodies are generated by the body in response to Covid-19 infection.)

Simply put, the presence of IgM presumes that a person’s immune system is still responding to the infection while the presence of IgG speculates that antibodies were developed after they have already fought off the virus in the recent past.

Villa emphasized that even if the person tested negative using the rapid diagnostic test, a confirmatory test must be conducted.

The patient was in Cebu City to take the architect licensure examination, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He arrived in Cagayan de Oro City on May 19.

After exhibiting mild cough, the patient was swabbed for Covid-19 detection on May 21 and yielded a positive result. (JJL)