CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Negros Oriental Provincial Health Office has announced that two of the 164 fishermen, who arrived in the province on board the fishing vessel, Phillip DR, had tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In a media briefing that was aired live through the Negros Oriental Provincial Government Facebook page on Sunday afternoon, May 31, 2020, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion said both patients were asymptomatic and had been transferred to the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital.
Dr. Estacion also said they believed that the patients caught the infection while onboard the vessel and assured that there was no local transmission involved in the new cases because all were placed under isolation since they disembarked from the fishing vessel last May 21.
The new COVID-19 patients are a 30-year-old man, who is a native of Ayungon town in Negros Oriental, and a 48-year-old man who hails from Samboan town in Cebu province./dbs