Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) | File photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The first patient from Talisay City confirmed to have the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is among the latest fatality for Central Visayas, and the first for Cebu province.
In a bulletin issued to members of the media on Sunday, April 5, 2020, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) reported two mortalities and one new confirmed case of COVID-19. This development means that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the region is now at 35 with eight deaths.
An 84-year-old male, who happened to be the first COVID-19 case for Talisay City, and a 72-year-old female from Cebu City, both succumbed to the disease on Sunday.
As a result, Cebu City now has five COVID-19-related deaths, the highest among all areas in Central Visayas.
Meanwhile, the new confirmed COVID-19 case is from Lapu-Lapu City – a 67-year-old female who is currently admitted in a hospital whose location was not disclosed.
Laboratory Negative
On the other hand, the DOH – 7 also logged another patient from Negros Oriental, a 62-year-old male, who already tested negative of the virus after he underwent repeat tests.
This means the number of patients who recovered from COVID-19 in the region now stands at 11.
The DOH- 7 released an updated summary of the patients confirmed to have contracted the disease in the region, and clarified that the first reported recovery in Negros Oriental — a 49-year-old male — was considered as ‘laboratory negative’.
Laboratory negative refers to patients still admitted in health facilities for further observation but have already yielded negative of the virus after repeat tests were conducted on them.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, director of DOH-7, said that people above 60 years old with preexisting medical conditions were vulnerable to the disease.
With two new deaths involving the elderly, Bernadas, in a statement released to the media on Sunday, advised those vulnerable to COVID-19 and were showing symptoms of the disease to seek medical consultation.
“Based on the data that we have seen, we encourage those with symptoms such as fever, cough, difficulty breathing and coming from the vulnerable groups to seek consultation at the soonest possible time at their nearest health facility,” Bernadas added. /dbs