With all of the provinces in the Cordillera and Baguio City easing up movements under modified general community quarantine starting June 1, the Department of Health-Cordillera has reminded the public to remain at home and continue observing minimum health protocols.
The appeal was validated by the four new cases in Baguio, placing the city’s total Covid-19 cases at 36 as of June 5 and 54 in the entire region.
The new cases, two of them identifying themselves to alert those who came in contact with them, include a returning Baguio worker, a health worker, and an inmate at the Baguio City Jail who was discovered positive after he was arrested due to various char-ges. The latest patient is a close contact of the health worker.
In a briefing on June 2, Department of Health-Cordillera OIC Director Amelita Pangilinan said the downgrading of the region’s categorization by the Interagency Task Force from GCQ to MGCQ does not mean that the virus that causes Covid-19 is gone.
“It is still here and will remain. It is not yet safe because there is no vaccine yet. So, we appeal to the public’s sense of responsibility. Kung wala po tayong gagawin o importanteng kukunin sa labas, especially our senior citizens, the vulnerable age group, and the pregnant women, we should still stay at home,” Pangilinan said.
She said people should observe the minimum health protocols like the use of face mask and physical distancing.
“Especially kung may iniinda kayong sakit, do not go out. ‘Yung mga kailangan lang lumabas para mamalengke at for essential needs lamang ang dapat lalabas. If people will not do their part, if they will not be responsible enough, if they will not take care of their health, they and their families will be infected,” she added.
Ailene Doria, 28, of City Camp Central, is a returning Baguio resident (RBR) who arrived in the city from La Union on May 29 to resume work as a store manager in one of the establishments in the city. Before that, she stayed for two months in Binmaley, Pangasinan when the city was placed under the enhanced CQ.
She availed of the RBR and workers program and complied with the requirements. At the triage, her X-ray showed suspicious pneumonia so she underwent the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test, then went to her boarding house to self-quarantine.
John Delinger Batulan, 38, a resident of South Central Aurora Hill and nurse at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center Psychiatric Ward had no major symptoms but underwent a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as a requirement for returning to work at the hospital after a week’s break from duty.
He last reported to his post on May 23. He spent most of his off-duty days at home where he met with friends. He also did some drop-and-go errands. Last May 28, he went on a round trip to La Union to fetch a relative needing medical attention.
A cancer survivor having beaten the disease in 2016, Batulan was immuno-compromised but continued to serve as a frontliner.
Batulan and Doria agreed to the call of Mayor Benjamin Magalong to reveal their condition to help in tracing those who had contact with them and stop further transmission of the virus.
The third individual who tested positive of the Covid-19 on May 31 is 25-year old Bernard Agbuya of Barangay Poliwes.
He was arrested night of May 28 after he and his brother engaged in a fight with neighbors and later attacked their own father during a drinking spree at their home.
As a standard procedure since community quarantines in the city started in March 16, inmates are required to undergo the Covi-19 test.
His rapid test turned out negative but he yielded positive result in the swab test.
On Thursday night, the city’s Public Information Office reported that another patient, a 32-year-old male, has been added to the city’s Covid-19 toll on June 4.
The newest patient is from South Central Aurora Hill with known exposure to Batulan last June 2.
Contact tracing, quarantine, disinfection, and medical measures are being done. – Hanna C. Lacsamana with reports from PIO
