Doctor latest to go public on COVID-19 infection in Baguio

PRAYER. A large tarpaulin hung beneath a Baguio pedestrian bridge expresses what many residents now feel as they ride out a Luzon quarantine to help contain the coronavirus disease.

BAGUIO CITY—A doctor infected with COVID-19 followed the lead of four others who went public to help track down people he had contact with as the number of cases in the summer capital rose to 13 by Wednesday (April 1).

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Dr. Manuel Kelly issued a public advisory over social media to reach out to residents. The doctor said he was infected while serving as a health emergency front line worker.

“If we crossed paths from March 13 to March 26, please have yourself quarantined for 14 days,” Kelly said on his social media post which was quoted by the city public information office.

“If you have cough, fever, throat pain and diarrhea, have yourself checked immediately,” the doctor said.

“For the safety of everyone I may have encountered or came in contact with, I want to be transparent,” he said.

To date, Kelley remained asymptomatic.

Earlier, a member of the city health staff, a couple from Manila, and a Filipino-American went public with their conditions, heeding Magalong’s request for full disclosures to speed up the contact tracing process and locate other potential cases. The revelations were also meant to convince residents to heed the quarantine.

The city health services office said two of the 13 COVID-19 patients in Baguio have recovered. There are 110 persons under investigation (PUI), or those showing symptoms, confined in hospital or on home quarantine.

The city has 834 persons under monitoring (PUM), or those with no symptoms but with travel to an infected place or contact with a carrier, who are on mandatory quarantine.

Edited by TSB