Deceased septuagenarian from NegOr town negative for Covid-19

THE 79-year-old man from Tayasan, Negros Oriental who died early this week under suspicion of contracting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has tested negative of the virus.  

In a statement Friday, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, head of the health committee of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Covid-19, said this was confirmed via the result of throat swab samples taken from the patient.  

The laboratory result returned here late Thursday from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City, along with 30 other throat swab results, which all turned out negative, she said.

The man from Tayasan was a terminally-ill patient, with co-morbidities such as cancer, diabetes, and pneumonia, Estacion said.

He was admitted at a private hospital in the city on Sunday and died shortly after midnight Wednesday, pending laboratory test results.

Estacion said the man was swabbed on Tuesday after exhibiting symptoms associated with Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the PHO has sent 39 new throat swab samples to the VSMMC for testing.

Latest data from the PHO as of late Thursday afternoon also showed an increase in the number of probable Covid-19 cases.

The report showed 11 cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and four cases of Moderate Acute Respiratory Infection (MARI).

Those with influenza-like illness (ILI) without co-morbidities remained at 25 while ILI with co-morbidities dropped to only one.

On Wednesday, the data showed six SARI cases, seven MARI cases, 25 ILI without co-morbidities, and three ILI with co-morbidities.

Under the new classification of Covid-19 cases being used by the Department of Health (DOH), ILIs (both with or without co-morbidities) fall under the classification as “suspect”, while SARI and MARI cases are considered as “probable”.

The early classification of Covid-19 cases, namely, Patients Under Investigation (PUI) and Persons Under Monitoring (PUM) had also been dropped.

While the DOH is using its latest three classifications of Covid-19 cases – suspect, probable, and confirmed – health authorities here are still using the SARI, MARI, and ILI classification according to guidelines set by the DOH Region 7 (Central Visayas), said DOH Negros Oriental provincial chief, Dr. Socrates Villamor. (By Mary Judaline Partlow)