THE 56-year-old man who was first tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Bacolod City has tested negative on repeat swab test.
This was stressed by Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Bacolod City Inter-Agency Task Force against Covid-19, after they were informed by the Department of Health (DOH)-Western Visayas that the repeat swab test of the 56-year-old male patient is already negative.
Familiaran said the patient, who has a travel history from abroad, is scheduled to be discharged from the hospital.
He said from February 2 to March 29, 2020, Bacolod City has a total of 31 patients under investigation (PUIs).
Of 31 PUIs, 21 of them were already discharged from the hospital and the 60-year-old man died due to difficulty of breathing on March 17, but was tested negative of Covid-19.
The task force also recorded a total of 1,970 persons under monitoring (PUMs) in Bacolod City.
Familiaran said only nine PUIs are still confined in the city's hospitals, including the four PUIs who earlier tested positive for Covid-19.
Dr. Grace Tan, spokesperson of Bacolod Inter-Agency Task Force against Covid-19, said the 75-year-old male patient, who has travel history to Manila, has recovered, as well as the 28-year-old, who has travel history to United States.
She said the 28-year-old male patient, who has an exposure to the 56-year-old patient, is also waiting for the repeat swab test result, while the 40-year-old male patient, who has travel history to Manila, is in critical condition.
She said DOH Memorandum 2020-0108 stated that those discharged clinically well will still have to continue another 14-day strict home quarantine, then a repeat swab will be taken after 14 days.