DAVAO CITY – The doctor from the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOPMC) who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) last week has tested negative on his repeat swab, a health officer said Tuesday.
“We just receive the result of his repeat swab today (Tuesday) and it is negative,” said Dr. Reden Bersaldo, action officer of the Davao Oriental Provincial Task Force on Covid-19, in a virtual presser.
In a statement on Monday, DOPMC described the front-liner as a 32-year-old resident doctor for internal medicine at the hospital.
He was subjected to RT-PCR swab test on May 8 and consequently received a negative result on May 14 and reported for duty at the DOPMC on May 25 to 26 without any symptoms.
After securing a negative RT-PCR swab test result days prior to his duty at the DOPMC, he was again subjected to a mandatory RT-PCR swab test on May 26 and his result four days later turned positive.
Despite the doctor’s negative result on the repeat test, Mati City Incident Management Team (IMT) Commander Dr. Ben Hur Catbagan Jr. said contact tracing of patients and colleagues of the health worker will continue.
Catbagan asked for the cooperation of the public who could have any information about anyone who was admitted, checked-up, visited, or discharged from the DOPMC on May 25 and 26 to immediately inform the IMT’s tracing team.
“It is of utmost importance that these individuals be identified, isolated, and treated as soon as possible,” Catbagan added. (PNA)
