A personnel of the Marikina city government in a hazmat suit disinfects public buildings and schools amid the COVID-19 scare. MARIKINA PIO PHOTO
Update
MANILA, Philippines — The number of positive cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Marikina City has increased from just one to five in a span of just 2 days, the local government of Marikina said Wednesday.
In a statement, Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said the five cases are included in the 33 positive COVID-19 patients which were announced by the Department of Health (DOH) Tuesday night, Teodoro said.
Teodoro said the four new cases contracted the disease from Marikina’s first positive COVID-19 patient which involved an 86-year-old man, who flew from South Korea.
“All in all, may five confirmed cases na kami ng COVID-19 dito sa Marikina. ‘Yung apat na bagong nag-positive ay kamag-anak nung first case namin,” Teodoro said, noting that it is not a case of community transmission as neighbors and other outsiders were not infected by the disease.
(All in all, there are five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Marikina. The four new cases are relatives of the first case.)
The four new cases, whose age and gender were not disclosed, are already recovering, Teodoro said.
The senior citizen, however, is still in critical condition and is being treated at a hospital, Teodoro said.
This development also prompted the city to procure 3,000 test kits for confirming COVID-19 cases which will be coordinated with the Department of Health (DOH).
“Mayor Marcy Teodoro on Wednesday said the local government of Marikina will procure 2, 000 test kits as the city now has a total of 5 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),” read the statement.
The said test kits are developed by the University of the Philippines’ National Institute of Health and were approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The test kits can release confirmatory results for COVID-19 for only two hours. Health Chief Francisco Duque III said test kits will also be cheaper than the imported test kits provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The average price of a UP test kit is P1,500 which is lower than WHO’s P6,000 per test kit.