The province of Iloilo has the highest number of patients under investigation (PUIs) for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Western Visayas.
The Department of Health (DOH-6), as of March 19, 2020, recorded 18 suspected COVID-19 cases in the province.
Of the number, 17 are currently admitted in different hospitals while one is outpatient.
According to the DOH-6, samples were already taken from the PUIs and sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila for testing.
The province of Antique registered 13 PUIs, followed by Iloilo City, 11; Aklan, 8; Capiz, 8; Bacolod City, 5; Negros Occidental, 4; Guimaras, 2; and others (PUIs not from Western Visayas), 2.
All in all, there are 76 PUIs in the region.
PUIs are those who “recently traveled to other countries with confirmed COVID-19 cases manifested symptoms of the disease like fever, dry cough, and shortness of breathe.”
Iloilo province also has the highest number of persons under monitoring (PUMs) for COVID-19 in the region.
The DOH-6 recorded 22,813 PUMs. Of the number, 6,082 came from Iloilo province, 4,350 from Negros Occidental; 3,548 from Aklan; 3,296 from Capiz; 3,057 from Antique; 1,097 from Iloilo City; 881 from Bacolod City; and 502 from Guimaras.
PUMs are “those who do not exhibit symptoms but with history of travel and exposure to COVID-19 cases.”
The region remained free from the dreaded disease, the DOH-6 said.IMT
