Mountain Province is the only remaining province in the Cordillera without a laboratory confirmed positive case of the Covid-19, after Kalinga reported its first two Covid-19 cases on June 10 and 11.
With this, the provincial government of Mountain Province continues to appeal to the constituents, particularly those returning from overseas and other parts of the country, to cooperate by observing the province’s strict health protocols.
In the official social media account of the provincial government, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Edward F. Chumawar, Jr. has appealed to the returning constituents to be honest in declaring their travel history and other important information needed before they are allowed back to the province.
“Considering the cases that have beset other places in our region, we must not be complacent. The challenge is for all of us to unite, cooperate, and work together as a people to keep our province Covid-19-free. We must advocate honesty among our returning constituents, particularly on their travel history and health status. It is only when we are informed of vital information regarding inbound travelers that we can apply mitigating measures aside from our current health protocols which are already in place,” Chumawar said.
As of 4 p.m. of June 9, Mountain Province has zero confirmed case. The province has 116 suspect cases, 52 of them were discharged, 56 have completed home quarantine, five are currently admitted, and two among the suspect cases died.
The first case of Kalinga is a returning resident from Manila.
According to the report of the Kalinga Provincial Police, the 30-year-old patient was swabbed on June 6 upon arrival in Tabuk City from Caloocan, Metro Manila. He is one of the 25 passengers of a Victory Liner bus who availed of the private initiative Oplan Padatong.
As a protocol, the patient was brought to a quarantine facility in Tabuk City and was subjected to rapid test.
The result of the rapid test was reactive, and he was immediately swabbed for confirmatory test, which turned out positive.
He is at the Tabuk City Isolation Unit and asymptomatic. Contact tracing is ongoing.
The second positive case is a 51-year-old male overseas Filipino worker from Abu Dhabi and resident of Dagupan West, Tabuk City.
The patient was fetched by the city government of Tabuk from the Cagayan Stadium in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan on June 6. He tested positive at the Agbannawag holding center, and the City Health Office had him swabbed on June 8.
He was confirmed positive on June 11. The patient is also at the city isolation unit.
Meanwhile, the PDRRMO of Mountain Province through its local version of the Hatid OFW Probinsya initiative continues to provide assistance to returning overseas Filipinos in coordination with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Since May, the province has facilitated the transport of 17 returning OFWs from the quarantine facilities in Baguio and Metro Manila.
“To our returning constituents from other parts of the country and from abroad, we welcome you home. However, we continue to solicit your cooperation, especially on the strict observance of health protocols, with your respective communities in our united efforts to safeguard our province from the Covid-19,” Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan said. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
