DOH: Ilocos Region still COVID-19 free
AS of March 4, 2020, Ilocos Region remains free of COVID-19 cases after 13 persons earlier categorized as Patients Under Investigation (PUIs) and placed under isolation were eventually cleared when their laboratory tests proved negative.
Dr. Rheuel Bobis, medical officer IV of the Department of Health in Region 1, told the KBP Forum that all 13 PUIs had already been discharged and had gone home and only five out of 38 persons under monitoring (PUMs) remain as of March 4.
Bobis said none of the five remaining PUMs, is a Pangasinense but from La Union and Ilocos Sur.
There was one PUI in Pangasinan but the lady from Lingayen who traveled to Taiwan was found negative of the virus and was cleared. Her kin classified as PUM were also cleared.
He said there is still no vaccine for COVID-19 and those who get infected can only be given supportive management, meaning if the patient has a fever or cough and cold, these will be treated as such.
Most of those who died were weak elderlies and had underlying health issues.
Asked if local government units were right in canceling their crowd-drawing events, Bobis said it is in compliance with the advisory issued jointly by the Department of Health and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
He said agencies can still proceed with their events provided they adopt precautions i.e., setting up hand-washing facilities and put up stations that regularly dispense alcohol and sanitizer.
He also corrected the impression that hot weather will resist COVID-19 since the virus was found to thrive in both cold and hot temperatures.
A person will be considered a PUI if he has a fever, cough and colds and had recently traveled to China, Hong Kong, Macau and the three COVID-19 affected provinces of South Korea and countries where there is already high incidence of COVID.
He said masks should be worn only by people who are sick, by people who are taking care of their sick relatives; and by health workers, like doctors, nurses and other health professionals. And, constant washing of hands and taking Vitamin C are the biggest defense against COVID-19, he added. (Leonardo Micua)
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