Two individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) have already been placed under strict isolation.
The Samal City Health Office said the two patients were already transferred to a COVID-19 isolation facility in Barangay Licup, Samal District “for close monitoring.”
With the two new positives, the island has now a total of seven cases.
A 14-year-old boy is the sixth confirmed case on the island, while the 40-year-old female, who also happens to be the mother of case number six, is the seventh one in the city. They are both residents of Barangay Kinawitnon in Babak District.
Two individuals were among the locally stranded individuals who were given a slot to return to Samal last June 3 via Babak wharf on board the Mae Wess Ferry. “They went through the standard remote appointment from our Local Government Unit to return home,” the City Health Office said.
It was found out that the two visited Isla Verde, Barangay 23-C in Davao City.
“They stayed in the aforesaid address since April 4, 2020, and attended a birthday celebration on April 7, 2020, on the same barangay,” the City Health Office said.
As of June 4, the city government of Davao has tagged Barangay 23-C as one of the nine barangays considered to be “very high risk” areas for COVID-19. It is also one of the barangays in Davao City placed on lockdown for its notable number of COVID-19 cases.
During their arrival, they underwent “comprehensive health screening” at Camp Holiday, Babak District adjacent to the City Health Office.
Both the 14-year-old male and his 40-year-old mother “do not have signs and symptoms” upon the health assessment initiated by the City Health Office. However, the Office said that the male individual “gave a positive antibody screen”, therefore, oropharyngeal swab and nasopharyngeal swab (OPS/NPS) were immediately collected from him.
Meanwhile, his 40-year-old mother tested negative for both IgG and IgM (antibodies of COVID19). However, an OPS/NPS was also taken from her, including another family member, for a Reverse Transcription – Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing since they both had close contact with the 14-year-old boy.
“The three family members were immediately accommodated at one of our isolation facilities in Barangay Catagaman (Philippine Human Resource Development Center) Samal District for strict isolation for 14 days,” the City Health Office said.
On June 6, the Health Office revealed that the OPS/NPS RT-PCR test results from the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) for both the sixth and seventh cases came back with a positive result for SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen which causes COVID-19.
The City Health Office said that the two will again undergo a repeat swab test to monitor their condition. The schedule of their repeat swab test, however, has not yet been disclosed.
Samal Island now has a total of seven confirmed COVID-19 cases, three of which are classified as active “asymptomatic” cases.
Three other patients were previously reported to have died because of the virus, and one was recorded to have already recovered.
