A 43-year-old male patient in Negros Occidental admitted at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) as a person under investigation (PUI) has been found negative for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Dr. Julius Drilon, medical center chief II, said in a statement on Wednesday that this was based on the result of the confirmatory testing from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
“The patient will be discharged from the hospital today (Wednesday),” he added.
As of yesterday, two more PUIs were still at the hospital awaiting laboratory results from the RITM. The PUIs are confined at the CLMMRH Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Facility.
One of the two is a 12-year-old with a history of travel to Hong Kong and Macau while the other is a 58-year-old female.
“The CLMMRH is assuring the public that the hospital is implementing strict infection control measures in providing treatment to these patients,” Drilon said.
He also urged the public to always verify information related to nCoV from the Department of Health website and to refrain from spreading fake news.
“Everyone is encouraged to continue practicing proper hygiene, washing of hands regularly, and observing proper cough and sneeze etiquette,” Drilon added.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Health Office reported that two more PUIs have been identified as of Wednesday — a 67-year-old male, a foreign national, who had a layover in Taiwan, and a 30- to 40-year-old Filipino male who traveled to Hong Kong.
Dr. Grace Tan, the spokesperson of the city’s inter-agency task force against nCoV, said the swab samples of the latest two patients would be sent to the RITM as soon as possible.
They are now confined in a tertiary hospital, she added. (Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)