Parts of Marikina market closed after vendor dies

MANILA, Philippines — Parts of Marikina City’s central market were shut down on Monday after an elderly vendor died of a respiratory illness suspected to be the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Mayor Marcelino Teodoro ordered the closure of the entire wet section, grocery, carinderia and fruit, vegetable and coconut sections to give way to the market’s disinfection until today.

Teodoro said the market would resume operations on Wednesday after the “thorough disinfection.”

The City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit also raced to trace all those the 72-year-old market vendor might have come into contact with before his death. Though he is suspected to have died of COVID-19, he was unable to undergo testing for the disease.

“He died three days after exhibiting symptoms,” Teodoro said. “He was likely immunocompromised due to his advanced age. He had been selling in the market for a long time—it was his sole livelihood.”

Contact tracing was being conducted in areas where the vendor worked or resided, specifically the villages of Sta. Elena, San Roque and Sto. Niño. He had lived in an apartment complex with five other families. INQ