The Department of Health has reported there is no confirmed case of coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19)in the Cordillera but 40 individuals are and have been under investigation for the disease in the region as of March 12.
Based on latest data and reports from the DOH and World Health Organization, 21 of the persons under investigation (PUIs) are from Baguio City, eight from Abra, six from Benguet, three from Mountain Province, and one each from Apayao and Kalinga. There is no PUI from Ifugao. Their age range is 10 months to 57 years old.
Six of the PUIs are currently admitted while 34 have been discharged.
A total of 140 are classified as persons under monitoring (PUMs). Sixty-eight are in Abra, five in Apayao, 10 in Baguio City, 17 in Benguet, 18 in Ifugao, 14 in Kalinga, and eight in Mountain Province.
Twenty-two PUMs are currently undergoing the 14-day quarantine, 118 have completed the same, but one left the country without completing the quarantine.
While there remains no confirmed case of the disease in the region, an increase in the number of PUIs and PUMs and presence of a laboratory confirmed case may be expected, according to the March 12 data of the DOH.
At the national level, there are 64 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 with five deaths as of March 12.
A total of 851 are PUIs, 155 of them are still admitted as of press time.
On March 12, the country upgraded its Covid-19 alert from Code Red sublevel 1 to sublevel 2, which means “there is an evidence of community transmission and prevalence of cases beyond what the government can address” and under which a lockdown may be imposed if it so warrants.
There are also 27 Filipino overseas workers who have been confirmed positive of the disease and were admitted/isolated. These cases have been reported in Japan aboard M/V Diamond Princess (10 Filipinos), United Arab Emirates (two), Hong Kong (four), Singapore (five), and U.S.A. also aboard M/V Diamond Princess (six).
The number of reported confirmed the Covid-19 cases globally is 125,048 affecting 117 countries including China with 4,613 deaths. China alone has 80,981 confirmed cases and 3,173 deaths.
The WHO, which already considered the Covid-19 a pandemic, assessed risks of acquiring the disease both in China and at the regional and global levels to be very high. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
April 24, 2024
