Priest among recent COVID-19 fatalities in Davao Region

Tagum City, Davao del Norte (Wikipedia maps)

DAVAO CITY — A priest in Tagum City is one among two new deaths due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Davao Region, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday.

The DOH Region 11, in its recent bulletin, said the recent deaths bring to 20 the total COVID-19 fatalities in the region.

The other latest fatality is from Davao City.

Fr. Arnel Celis is the first COVID-19 death in Tagum City. He died on Monday evening while awaiting his test result that came out Thursday.

It is still unclear where and how Celis contracted the virus pending the release of his travel and exposure history from DOH.

In a statement, the local government of Tagum expressed sadness over the priest’s death, citing his contributions to the city.

“The people of Tagum will always remember and will be grateful for all the contributions of Father Celis to our city. The City Government of Tagum also appreciates the cooperation of the family of Fr. Celis in the contact tracing that we are doing,” the Tagum local government said.

Meanwhile, the Tagum city government appealed to all individuals who had close contact with Celis from April 5 to April 22, to immediately inform the nearest Barangay Health Emergency Response Team and observe 14-day self isolation.

On Thursday, six new cases were recorded throughout the Davao region, five of whom are in Davao City and one in Tagum City.

This brings to 135 the total cases in the region, 118 of whom are in Davao City.

Of the 135, 79 had recovered.

Because of the new infection in the Tagum, the local government has decided to extend the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine until May 15.

JPV