DOH reports 3 more COVID-19 cases, bringing total to 52

(Eagle News) — The Department of Health reported three more cases of the coronavirus disease in the country, bringing the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases  to 52, as of Thursday, March 12.

The DOH said that they are conducting extensive information gathering and contact tracing on the additional cases.

They include a 69-year old Filipino female and a 26-year old Filipino male who are residents of Quezon City, and a 79-year old Filipino male with travel history in the United Kingdom.  All three were confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on Wednesday, March 11.

The 69-year old Filipina who is identified only as Philippine case no. 50 (PH50) and is currently confined at the Medical City and has exhibited symptoms on March 8.

The 26-year old Filipino male is currently confined at the Makati Medical Center, and is identified as patient no. 51 (PH51)

The third new case, patient no. 52 (PH52), the 79-year old Filipino who had recently travelled to the UK, is currently admitted at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, according to the DOH data.

“So we continually ask the public to cooperate and help us in the investigation and contact tracing activities,” it said in a statement.

The DOH advised persons who may have had exposure to a COVID-19 positive case to undergo home quarantine for 14 days.

On Wednesday night, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases were at 49 after the addition of 16 new positive cases.

Later, the DOH also confirmed the death of a COVID-19 patient, a 67-year-old Filipino female who was confined at the Manila Doctors Hospital.

She was the wife of another COVID-19 patient who attended a March 5 hearing at the Senate when he still did not know that he had the virus. A day later, March 6, he exhibited respiratory symptoms and was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on Wednesday.

His wife, identified only as patient no. 35, exhibited respiratory symptoms as early as Feb. 29

They are both residents of Makati City.