More event suspensions as provinces contain virus spread

Classes in all levels in Bulacan province were suspended on Tuesday after one of the new COVID-19 cases was recorded in Sta. Maria town.

But Dr. Joy Gomez, Bulacan health officer, said they were still validating if there had been a case of infection in Bulacan as they had yet to trace the person’s whereabouts as of Monday night.

“There is no confirmation yet of whether it is a positive case or just a person under investigation (PUI),” Gomez said.

She said they were also checking if the case was a local transmission in Sta. Maria or if the patient was a resident there but contracted the virus somewhere else.

In Pampanga province, all scheduled public events at the Clark Freeport were postponed by the state-owned Clark Development Corp. in compliance with the health emergency declared by President Duterte.

In Zambales province, Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. canceled the annual Dinamulag Mango Festival scheduled from April 29 to May 2.

In Pangasinan province, Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil said he was tested negative for the virus after he attended the same event with a Filipina from Australia who later tested positive.

Some people who came in contact with the woman while attending a high school reunion in Lingayen and other events in Pangasinan presented themselves to health officials during the contact tracing.

In Baguio City, migrant workers, who were stranded in the Cordillera due to a China travel ban, urged the government to allow them to return to Chinese provinces and cities that are still safe from COVID-19.

About 60 workers from the Cordillera also complained that the ban threatened their jobs. In Cebu City, the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) has postponed upcoming gatherings in the city related to the commemorations of the first circumnavigation of the world in 2021.

The NQC announced on its Facebook page on Monday that it postponed activities set in March and April amid the rise of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, mostly in Metro Manila.

In Davao City, Councilor Joselle Villafuerte, a doctor, sought the reactivation of the Task Force on Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases to ensure the city’s readiness to respond to any COVID-19 threat. The task force was set up when President Duterte was still mayor as part of the city’s readiness measure to fight the Ebola virus.

The Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) announced it was postponing all its graduation and recognition rites to comply with the government’s directive to call off large public gatherings to stop the spread of the virus.

New schedules of commencement exercises will be decided after the public health emergency is over, said Fr. Joel Tabora, AdDU president.

‘E-dalaw’

In Davao del Sur province, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) suspended jail visits to prevent the possible spread of the virus, said Police Chief Supt. Leo Baldon, the BJMP director in Davao Region.

Instead, he said, the BJMP activated “e-dalaw,” a project that allows inmates to communicate with their loved ones through social media platforms, such as Facebook or Skype.

Inmates who wished to avail of e-dalaw services only needed to ask the jail guards for schedules, Baldon said.—Reports from Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Tonette Orejas, Joanna Rose Aglibot, Vincent Cabreza, Karlos Manlupig, Orlando Dinoy, Germelina Lacorte, Bong Sarmiento, Erwin Mascariñas and Ador Vincent Mayol