Quezon COVID-19 positive cases rise to 9 as 3 more cases added

LUCENA CITY, Philippines  – Quezon province has now recorded a total of nine confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases as of noontime Sunday with the addition of three more cases.

The Quezon Public Information Office (QPIO) in a bulletin issued 12:30 p.m. revealed that two of the new cases were traced to this city and another one from Candelaria town. The QPIO did not provide additional details on the cases.

The QPIO reported Saturday night of six COVID-19 confirmed cases in the province – three are from Lucena City, one from Tayabas City and one each from Sariaya and Sampaloc towns.

The confirmed cases from this city include that of a 35-year-old man who had traveled to Thailand and Singapore, a 54-year old woman with no travel background, and a 68-year-old man also with no travel history.

They were reportedly in stable conditions in undisclosed hospitals.

The patient from Tayabas is also stable, asymptomatic and is on house quarantine.

The patient from Sariaya is a 26-years old man with a history of travel to Batangas.

The case from Sampaloc is that of a 69-year-old man who had traveled to Manila. He is now confined to a medical facility and is also in stable condition.

The patient from Tayabas had a history of contacts with one of the patients from Lucena and is also from Sariaya, according to the report.

This capital city of the province now has a total of five former “patients under investigation” (PUI) that have tested positive of the coronavirus.

Alarmed with the sudden spike of COVID-19 cases, Lucena Mayor Roderick Alcala ordered the strict implementation of the enhanced community quarantine order of President Rodrigo Duterte in the city.

“It will be much stricter. No one from other towns will be allowed to enter the city territory. There is also firmer compliance of quarantine pass,” Alcala said in a phone interview.

He revealed that he plans to place the entire city in total lockdown. “I’m just waiting for the advice from higher authorities,” he did not elaborate.

The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) on Saturday also noted that there is another confirmed case of COVID-19 from the island town of Polillo.

The IPHO said the patient is now under quarantine in an undisclosed hospital in Metro Manila. “There is an ongoing contact tracing in Polillo,” the IPHO said.

But the patient from Polillo was included in the list of confirmed cases in the National Capital Region and not in Quezon.

The IPHO also listed 153 validated PUIs as of Saturday.

/MUF