CEBU CITY, March 26 (PIA) -- Department of Health (DOH-7) Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas clarified that to date, Cebu province has not reported any COVID-19 deaths.

This he announced during the presscon held March 24, 2020 to debunk speculations over COVID-19 deaths in Cebu province that are circulating on social media.

Bernadas said of the four patients who died in Cebu who were earlier categorized as persons under investigation (PUIs), two tested negative while the other two are still for confirmatory tests.

He explained swab samples were taken from the said patients because the attending physicians have indicated that they are possible COVID-19 suspects.

"Kaning upat gibutang ni sila nato as (COVID) suspects pero dili pud ingnon nga namatay ni sila tungod sa COVID-19. Ato pa ni ipaklaro ug ato pud i-anunsyo unsa ang resulta aron di put ta mabalaka (These four were identified as COVID-19 suspects but it doesn't mean they all died due to COVID-19. We have to confirm this first before we announce the results," said Bernadas.

The four patients were suffering from underlying conditions.

Patient No. 1, a senior citizen, died due to multiple complications including acute respiratory infection, pulmonary tuberculosis, and diabetes, while the final diagnosis for Patient No. 2 was due to sudden cardiac death.

Patient No. 3, aged 40-year-old, died of sepsis, tuberculosis arthritis, and anemia, and Patient No. 4 suffered from status asthmaticus and died due to complications.

As of March 24, 2020, Bernadas said there is only one confirmed case in Cebu province, the 65-year-old patient who is currently admitted at Chong Hua Hospital in Mandaue City and is said to be recovering.

Tests for confirmatory results

The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) sent more swab samples for confirmatory testing to the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM).

An additional 31 samples were tested on March 24, 2020 at VSMMC, of which 25 were negative while six are still for confirmation.

Bernadas assured that proactive containment is being done to patients whose tests are up for confirmatory testing. (poc/PIA7)