COTABATO CITY – Health authorities are contact tracing persons who may have had close contact with a 43-year-old male in Banisilan, North Cotabato who was tested positive of COVID-19, officials today said.
Dr. Philbert Malaluan, provincial board member and spokesperson of the inter-agency task force on COVID-19 said the man was a driver working in Misamis Oriental but did not register when he returned home on May 1. Positive results of his confirmatory tests came Sunday.
North Cotabato has a “Balik-Probinsya” program that already catered to at least 200 residents of the province “stranded” in Davao City and elsewhere in the country.
On orders of Gov. Nancy Catamco, all Cotabateños stranded in other areas wanting to return home are to be assisted by the provincial government through its “Balik-Probinsya” program.
To date, 4,000 have registered to ask intervention for the provincial government so they can go home.
Malaluan said the patient whose PH number is yet to be released by the Department of Health, complained of hard cough, fever and difficulty in breathing, thus he was confined to the North Cotabato provincial hospital in Barangay Amas.
While in the hospital, he tested positive of the rapid test thus a swab test was performed. The results came on Sunday.
Malaluan said his family members, especially his son who accompanied him in the hospital, were all subjected to the rapid test.
Meantime, North Cotabato has four positive COVID-19 patients, two have recovered while two remained in isolation center in Barangay Amas, Kidapawan City. Across the Soccsksargen region, 20 have tested positive, only one died (PH600), 16 have recovered and four remained in isolation center. They are a 26-yeard-old male government worker from the city and an 18-year-old student from Cotabato City who studied in Davao City; a 25-year-old male from South Cotabato and the 43-year-old male from Banisilan, North Cotabato.-Edwin O. Fernandez
