The 17-year-old girl who has been deemed a probable coronavirus disease (COVID) 19 patient has been transferred to a government quarantine facility in Tagbilaran City as the Ramiro Community Hospital reported that she has “recuperated well” after undergoing  surgery at the hospital.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, the Ramiro Community Hospital said that the girl was already fit for discharge and was endorsed by the Tagbilaran City Health Office for transfer to a quarantine facility while results of her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test are awaited.

“The transfer observing strict infection control procedures has already been effected successfully; and [she] is now in the same isolation and quarantine facility with the parents,” the hospital said.

The girl who underwent appendectomy early last week showed signs of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, based on two rapid antibody tests.

She was about to undergo the operation when she was subjected to a rapid test as part of protocol and tested positive.

However, local health authorities are still waiting for the results of her confirmatory PCR tests, a week after swab samples were taken from her for testing in Cebu City.

“The Ramiro Community Hospital will continue to work closely with the Tagbilaran City Health Office and the Provincial Epidemiological Surveillance Unit to monitor the patient’s progress during the quarantine and keep them apprised of the outcome of confirmatory RT-PCR tests which has not been released as of this time,” the hospital said in the same statement.

Meanwhile, the 16 health workers who were in contact with the patient at the emergency and operating rooms remained quarantined at an isolation facility of the hospital.

Ramiro said that the medical frontliners were asymptomatic but were kept under “close monitoring.”

“The Hospital’s Infection Control Committee and Occupational Safety Head reassures the families and friends of the 16 frontliners quarantined that they are in good spirits and continue to be asymptomatic,” it said.