Bohol which has had only two confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 cases since the contagion erupted in the country early in the year recorded two new COVID-19 cases on Thursday afternoon.
One of the two new cases, an 89-year-old man from Calape, died on May 26 while admitted at the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran City, GCGMH medical chief Dr. Mutya Macuno confirmed to the Chronicle.
He was admitted at the GCGMH a day before his death for severe myocardial infarction or heart attack. He was also found to have had a “concomitant” pneumonia prompting doctors at the GCGMH to conduct a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test as part of protocol.
The patient however passed away before the release of the PCR test result on Thursday afternoon, said Macuno.
His cause of death was myocardial infarction secondary to community-acquired pneumonia.
“Gi swab siya pagka 26 but unfortunately ni expire pud siya pagka-26 and then ang result sa swab karon pa sa hapon, June 4 gi release sa Region [VII],” Macuno said.
Meanwhile, the other COVID-19 patient whose case was first announced by Tagbilaran City Mayor Baba Yap also on Thursday afternoon is admitted at the Ace Medical Center.
In a statement, the Ace Medical Center said that the patient has been admitted at the hospital for 10 days and has already “fully recovered.”
She was admitted for chest pain and difficulty in breathing and was treated by a multi-specialty team of consultants.
According to Macuno, PCR test results of both patients were released on the same day.
“These are completely different cases. Kay kani ato na case na na-admit sa Gallares ni-expire mani siya na taga Calape, although simultaneous ang pag-report ani gikan sa Cebu ang mga results,” she said.
Macuno said that the patient who died at the GCHMH was a “COVID-19-diagnosed case in the community” considering that he was not an overseas Filipino worker nor a Locally Stranded Individual.
Health authorities are still looking into the previous contacts of the diseased male to determine if he was in contact with anyone who has travel history.
“Ang dako na issue ron is mangutana ta kung na expose ba ni siya sa OFW or na expose ba sa LSI, kana ang dili pa ko katubag kay ga investigate pa ta,” Macuno said.
The patient’s remains were buried within 12 hours of his death.
Meanwhile, the local government of Calape has been informed that one of their residents tested positive for the highly contagious disease.
Calape Mayor Nelson Yu in a statement said that contact-tracing was already done by local health authorities starting May 27, even before the patient was confirmed to be infected.
Those pinpointed to have been in contact with the patient are now on their ninth day of quarantine.
In Tagbilaran City, Yap placed Purok 2 in Barangay Dao where the other COVID-positive patient lives under lockdown.
Contact tracing efforts have also been launched and those determined to have had contact with the COVID patient will be subjected to rapid antibody testing.
Prior to the two new cases, Bohol only had two COVID 19 cases and both of them recovered from the disease.
The first case was a Chinese woman who traveled to Bohol in late January and the other was a repatriated OFW from the United States who tested positive for the disease while in quarantine in Bohol last month. (with A. Doydora)