DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental — The province of Negros Oriental is now placed under Medical Code Red Sub Level 2 for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) following the death a councilor from Tayasan this morning, March 15, 2020 who was tested positive for the dreaded virus.
The councilor died at the Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC).
Read more: COVID-19 patient in NegOr dies
Another factor that prompted putting the province under the Medical Code Red Sub Level 2 is the increase in suspected COVID-9 cases here.
According to the Department of Health in its health advisory, the Medical Code Red Sub Level 2 will be raised once there is proof of community transmission and the increase in cases of people infected with the disease.
Bimbo Miraflor, public information officer of Negros Oriental, said in a statement that the province currently had 15 patients under investigation (PUIs).
This was an increase from the 3 PUIs recorded earlier in the province.
However, three of the 15 PUIs tested negative for COVID-19.
The PUIs also are from the cities of Dumaguete and Tanjay.
There were also additional nine swab specimens sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) .
According to Miraflor in a statement, in Tayasan, there are 240 persons under monitoring (PUMs) during the contact tracing. This brings a total of 264 PUMs in Negros Oriental.
Read more: Police after PUI who ‘left’ NegOr Provincial Hospital
On the other hand, the patient, who left the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH), against the doctors advice is now in a private hospital in Dumaguete city.
Dems Demecillo, Dumaguete City Public Information Officer told CDN Digital, that Lieutenant Colonel Wilfredo Alarcon, officer-in-charge of the Dumaguete Police, was able to trace and confirm that the PUI had been found and had been admitted in the private hospital.
Lieutenant Colonel Alarcon and the police traced the whereabouts of the PUI in response to the directive of Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo to find the PUI.
Meanwhile, Remollo said he preferred that the remains of the deceased Tayasan councilor, who tested positive for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), to be cremated within 12 hours or sooner.
According to Demecillo, this was contrary to one being buried that would require that the remains would travel the long way back to Tayasan./dbs