Abra province (in red shading) in Northern Luzon (Image from Google Maps)
BAGUIO CITY — The first confirmed case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Cordillera has been recorded in Abra province, according to a social media post by Abra Gov. Maria Jocelyn Bernos on Saturday (March 14).
The patient is a migrant worker had worked in the United Arab Emirates and returned to Manabo town in Abra on Mar. 8. THe worker was listed as a person under investigation (PUI) by the Lorma Medical Center in the La Union city of San Fernando when he visited his ailing mother on Mar. 10.
Tests confirming that the man had been infected reached the Cordillera office of the Department of Health and Abra on Saturday, prompting a local task force to quarantine the patient at his home, Bernos informed Abra newsmen.
The patient would be transferred to a designated hospital that is equipped to manage cases of COVID-19, which currently has no vaccine.
The DOH has yet to issue a statement.
Bernos said contact tracing has been launched in the towns of Manabo, Bangued, Sallapadan and Licuaan Baay which the patient visited. He joined a parade during the province’s annual Kawayan Festival in Bangued last week, and had attended a funeral in Licuaan Baay.
Catagbegan Nuevo village in Manabo town is the first community to be placed under quarantine, Bernos said. She directed residents there to stay indoors beginning on Saturday.
Bernos also imposed a curfew all over the province, from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. which may start on Mar. 17.
Since Thursday (Mar. 12), Abra has been regulating the entry of people, by requiring every passenger of every vehicle to submit to thermal scans and to execute health declaration forms, which would detail their travel histories for the last three weeks. Some motorists have been turned away after displaying symptoms like fever.
In Mountain Province, vehicles headed for the tourist town of Sagada and Besao have been required to take the Dantay Road so motorists and their passengers may undergo temperature checks and registration. Commercial buses are also required to use this route after officials shutdown Balili and Taccong roads, which serve as alternate routes to these towns.
Sagada and Besao have suspended crowd-drawing activities this summer.