The Center for Health Development (CHD-MIMAROPA) recorded a total of 57 suspect COVID-19 patients in the Palawan province, 20 of whom were admitted in different hospitals while 36 remained under strict home quarantine, as of 3 p.m. on Sunday (May 17).
Dr. Melecio Dy, hospital director of Ospital ng Palawan (ONP), in an exclusive interview with Palawan News on Wednesday, said that around 20 medical personnel had been placed under quarantine, two of whom were already swabbed for confirmatory testing, after being exposed to the deceased PUI who refused to be isolated and tested.
Palawan News was told by the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU), the health department's regional arm consolidating all information coming from the MIMAROPA provinces, that they have yet to receive information about the case.
The Department of Health (DOH) Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU), in an advisory issued Friday (as of 3 p.m., March 27), said that the COVID-patient, a 26-year-old Australian who flew out of the province on March 17 has recovered as verified by the Australian authorities.
The deceased PUI, a 37-year-old Filipino male who was previously admitted to a government hospital in the city, was cremated and was “properly handled based on the sanitation protocol” on March 18.
Fely Salvador, vice-president for commercial of Airport Services and Aerodomes, in a phone interview with Palawan News, reacted to city government and health officials' pronouncements claiming that there was special coordination with the airline on the boarding of the passenger.
Councilor Victor Oliveros, majority floor leader, assured the public that the city government is “aware of the threat and does not want to be caught sitting down” as the COVID-19 scare continues, having the fourth (4th) recorded case of person under investigation (PUI) in the city.
