No new COVID case in 4 North Luzon provinces

By Raymund Catindig

VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur — The remaining coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Nueva Vizcaya and Cagayan have recovered.

Ilocos Sur Gov. Ryan Luis Singson declared Ilocos Sur free of COVID-19 after their remaining patient in Tagudin town was discharged from a hospital on April 16.

The 55-year-old female patient was brought to a hospital in San Fernando, La Union last month after she experienced flu-like symptoms.

The patient was said to have contracted the disease from his son who arrived from the United States.

Singson said 17 other suspected COVID-19 patients, including six who died, tested negative for the virus.

No new case was recorded in Ilocos Norte after its two patients in Paoay and Batac City were discharged from the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center last week.

In Nueva Vizcaya, the remaining COVID-19 patient confined at the Cagayan Valley Trauma Hospital and Medical Center (CVTHMC) recovered yesterday.

Napoleon Obania, CVTHMC head, said the 52-year-old female patient, a resident of Solano town, was infected by her 65-year-old husband who died while being treated at the same hospital last month.

Nueva Vizcaya recorded only five confirmed cases. Four recovered and one died.

Glenn Matthew Baggao, Cagayan Valley Medical Center chief, said the remaining patient in Cagayan, a health worker from Tuguegarao City, was cleared of the virus on Wednesday.

Baggao said Cagayan has recorded the highest number of recovered patients in Cagayan Valley at 14.

Two health workers confined at the Southern Isabela Medical Center and Santiago Medical Center in Isabela are the remaining confirmed cases in the region.

Two suspected patients in Kalinga tested negative for the virus, tests conducted by the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center showed.

Quirino and Batanes have remained free of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Pangasinan District Hospital in Tayug, which was closed on April 5 after a doctor tested positive for COVID-19, reopened April 16..

Provincial health officer Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman said only one of the 37 people who had contact with the doctor tested positive for the virus.

De Guzman said three other infected hospital employees are now in stable condition.

Meanwhile, three health workers tested positive for the virus in Bataan on Wednesday, bringing the number of infected persons in the province to 42.

Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia said 11 doctors, four nurses and four other health workers in the province were infected.

Garcia said a 70-year-old doctor from Balanga City is among the 15 patients who have recovered.

Bulacan recorded two more cases and one fatality on Wednesday. There are now 71 cases, including 16 fatalities, in the province.—With reports from Victor Martin, Eva Visperas, Ramon Efren Lazaro and Ric Sapnu