March 28, 2024

A total of 104 individuals in the Cordillera are under investigation and one tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as of March 19.
In its latest bulletin, the Department of Health reported the first laboratory confirmed case is a 39-year-old male from Manabo, Abra who arrived in the country on March from the United Arab Emirates and started showing symptoms (fever and colds) of the illness on March 9.
He underwent consultation on March 10 at a regional hospital in La Union. He is currently admitted at a level 3 hospital and reported to be recovering as of latest monitoring.
The municipal epidemiology and surveillance unit and rural health unit of Manabo is conducting intensive information gathering and contact tracing, especially in the four towns in Abra where the patient attended public gatherings.
A barangay in Manabo was also placed in community quarantine and the provincial task force has limited transport within the province.
On the other hand, persons under investigation in the region subjected to the 14-day quarantine in health facilities are from Abra, with 14; Apayao, five; Baguio City, 55; Benguet, 17; Ifugao, one; and Kalinga, four; and Mountain Province with eight.
Of the total number, 53 are currently admitted and 51 have been discharged, among them is the lone PUI from Ifugao.
The age range of the PUIs is 10 months to 81 years old.
The Philippines currently has a total of 217 confirmed Covid-19 cases, which includes those who contracted the disease through local transmission or those that with history of exposure without necessarily having travelled to Covid-infected countries. Seventeen died of the disease.
Most of the positive cases are male with 143.
There are 1,172 reported PUIs nationwide, 380 of them are still admitted, as of March 19
Globally, there are 209,839 reported confirmed cases, with 8,778 deaths, affecting 160 countries.
The DOH said increase in the number of PUIs and persons under monitoring is expected. – Hanna C. Lacsamana