A FEMALE doctor from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City became the third medical frontliner from the hospital to test positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
This was confirmed by Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr., VSMMC medical chief, on Saturday, May 2, 2020.
Aquino said four of their medical personnel were also placed in 14-day quarantine, bringing the number of the hospital’s medical personnel in quarantine to 31.
Aquino said after implementing measures to ensure that their other medical personnel won’t be infected, they immediately sent a report to the Department of Health (DOH) concerning their new case.
Aquino refused to disclose the doctor’s other details, but he assured that she is admitted at the VSMMC and is being taken care of.
“We are trying our best,” he said.
Despite their hospital handling the bulk of Covid-19 cases in Cebu, Aquino said the establishment of various isolation centers in the city might lighten their patient load.
While confirmed Covid-19 patients who are in severe condition could remain in the VSMMC, those who have mild to moderate condition can be housed in quarantine facilities in the city such as the Bayanihan Field Center at the old Sacred Heart School for Boys campus.
While those confirmed cases but are asymptomatic can be housed in Barangay Isolation Centers.
Case update
As of May 2, Cebu City had 879 Covid-19 cases with seven deaths after the City Health Department recorded 119 new cases.
Of the 119, one came from Upper Bacayan; one from Lusimba, Pardo; eight from Centro, Mambaling; and 109 from Barangay Suba.
The 109 cases from Barangay Suba are from Abellana St., General Gines, Belgium St., Magsaysay St. and Santo Niño St.
Mayor Edgardo Labella ordered the closure of the Pasil Fish Port starting Sunday, May 3, to give way for the massive disinfection in the area and contact tracing.
Suba Barangay Captain Joel Sable is waiting for the go signal from City Hall so he can implement a lockdown in his barangay.
Sable said the market for retailers near the Pasil Fish Port was also closed.
Health workers have collected 500 swab samples from residents, he said.
Even though most residents in his barangay follow the stay-at-home order, some are forced to go out to fetch water because of the lack of running water in the area, Sable said.
Suba now has 124 Covid-19 patients.
Another inmate of the Mandaue City Jail was confirmed to have Covid-19 but he died before the result of his swab test was disclosed.
The inmate was reportedly admitted at the VSMMC on April 30 and died the next day.
Mandaue City now has 29 confirmed Covd-19 cases with two recoveries and two deaths.
Assurance
In Cebu Province, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia announced that 18 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who arrived from Manila on Tuesday, April 28, tested positive for Covid-19.
They were part of 200 seafarers who were stranded in Manila but were shipped home to Cebu.
Garcia assured that the OFWs are in quarantine in various hotels in Cebu while those who were found positive were brought to medical facilities for treatment.
Meanwhile, the governor said 4,393 persons in the province are considered persons under monitoring (PUM), with 35 of them showing influenza-like illness and three showing severe acute respiratory infection.
The PUMs will undergo swab testing, she said.
The Capitol has also collected swab samples from persons believed to have been in contact with Covid-19 patients.
Garcia urged towns and cities in the province to set up isolation centers to serve as temporary shelters for Covid-19 patients. (HBL, ANV, JJL, KFD / JKV)