By J. Jala | 09:27 PM June 15, 2020
The Allied Care Experts Medical Center (ACEMC) – Bohol clarified on Monday that one of its medical frontliners who was COVID-19 positive didn’t “escape” from isolation to attend a party in Panglao.
“The personnel involved did not actually escape from the quarantine. We APOLOGIZE for the anxiety caused by this event,” ACEMC-Bohol said in its public advisory on Monday evening, June 15, 2020.
ACEMC-Bohol said that the concerned staff went to Panglao June 1, 2020, his day off to attend to his mother’s birthday. He returned to Panglao on June 5, 2020, another day off to visit his mother. His quarantine started late afternoon of June 6, 2020 and is still in the facility quarantine.
The personnel concerned, a nursing assistant, had short contact with the patient and relatives on May 26, 2020 and May 31, 2020 while doing usual work assignment of taking vital signs.
The nursing aid and another nurse had direct contact with the 65-year-old patient from Dao who was admitted in ACEMC Bohol on May 25, 2020.
ACEMc-Bohol said swab test was done the following day. The positive RT-PCR result was received by ACEMC Bohol only June 4, 2020 late afternoon. Immediately, contact tracing was done by our IPCN (Infection Prevention and Control Nurse).
“All the concerned personnel were categorized according the WHO Health Worker Exposure risk assessment and management tool,” it said.
“All high-risk personnel in the group were called for mandatory quarantine. The CHO swabbed all the 34 concerned personnel on June 6 and 7, 2020. Among these only two of the thirty results returned positive on June 12, 2020. We are still awaiting results of four more quarantined staff,” it said.
” The concerned staff was initially low risk based on WHO Health Worker Exposure risk assessment and management tool but later in the afternoon of June 6, 2020 he complained of chilly sensation and submitted himself for swabbing and mandatory quarantine. And he was then categorized as high risk and currently in quarantine,” the statement said.
“At present the concerned staff does not manifest any symptoms,” the statement said.
Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II in a Facebook post on Sunday said that one of the nurses who is working in a private hospital in the city escaped from hospital quarantine to attend a birthday party prior to the release of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
” Ang isa, naay report nga ni break sa protocol og ni escape sa hospital before ni abot ang result and ni attend og party outside the city. Ni balik rapod sya sa hospital,” Yap said.
