Vega, in a virtual press conference on Monday, said that they already verified 1,261 individuals from March 18 to April 4.
He said that 794 of them were patients coming to SPMC, while the remaining 467 were individuals tested from other regions. Of the total number, 82 turned out positive for COVID-19. “This is only about 6.5 percent of the total people being tested,” he said.
As of April 6, the persons under investigation (PUIs) admitted to the SPMC are 64 in total. Of which, 26 tested positive, 24 are adults and two are pediatrics.
Vega also said that four critically-ill patients are now being treated at their intensive care unit (ICU) facility.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cleo Fe Tabada, DOH XI-Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) medical officer, said about 25% is classified as local transmission.
“We could not trace some of these cases to a travel history or direct contact with an incident outside the region. Basically, they were infected within the region,”
She also said they need to assess some events that gathered large crowds, as they could be possible sources of contamination. One of these events is a wedding ceremony, although that one did invite as many people.
“at least for now, we can contain the virus. It cannot go out or enter the region,” she said. “All the public’s cooperation efforts are needed so that we can win against this fight.”
