Mindanao records first COVID-19 case; no travel history

The Department of Health confirmed Mindanao's first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on March 12.

Patient 40, a 54-year-old Filipino male from Pasig City who returned to his home in Lanao del Sur, began showing symptoms on February 24 and was admitted to a hospital in Iligan City on March 3.

He tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine on March 11 and is currently under isolation at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City.

The patient has no known travel history, raising concerns about local transmission.

Additionally, the Visayas recorded its first case, Patient 39, a 64-year-old male from Dumaguete who had visited Greenhills in San Juan and is now critically ill at Ace Dumaguete Doctors Inc.