17/03/2020
Baguio remains COVID-19 free
16 March 2020 - A coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-positive patient visited Baguio City last March 9-11 while she was already manifesting symptoms before coming to the Summer Capital after her travel to Hiroshima, Japan.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said there were still no confirmed cases in the city contrary to reports that it has already registered two confirmed ones.
He said the visitor who was tested and found positive in Paranaque is not a confirmed case of Baguio City since she was just in transit while she was already symptomatic.
The other positive case was a resident of Abra but was tested in La Union.
The local chief executive stated that the 24-year old female employee manifested mild symptoms of the deadly virus before coming up to the city to attend a seminar in one of the famous hotels in the city last March 9-11, 2020.
However, when she and her fellow workers went back to Metro Manila, she was constrained to undergo a medical checkup at the San Juan de Dios Hospital due to persistent occasional cough.
Based on the initial interviews done on her by health experts, the confirmatory test results that she was positive of COVID was released to her by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on March 15, 2020 where she reported the matter to her mother agency.
On February 16-25, 2020, the confirmed COVID case from ParaƱaque reportedly travelled to Hiroshima, Japan but she was asymptomatic when she arrived in the country.
On March 7-8, 2020, she had occasional cough with no fever that is why she was not tested to have fever by the thermal scanner and was still able to join the trip of her agency and attend the 3-day seminar in the city.
The City Health and Services Office under Dr. Rowena Galpo is currently undertaking contact tracing in places visited by the patient while in the city. The hotel where the patient stayed in the city already did disinfection and complete sanitation protocol. -- Dexter See and Aileen Refuerzo