17 more inmates test positive for COVID-19 in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—The number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases here spiked further to 125 as the city braced for the lowering of its health control measures to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) in the next few days.

Sheila Belen Covarrubias, the information officer of Zamboanga City Task Force COVID-19, said on Thursday that 17 more inmates tested positive for the disease, adding up to the 99 cases inside the jail and 108 in the entire city.

Covarrubias said the 17 new COVID-19 patients were among the 60 inmates who left the facility on Sunday, May 10, to spend a 14-day quarantine in downtown GC Hotel here before their release as ordered by the court.

Dr. Dulce Miravite, city health officer, earlier ensured that swab tests were taken from the inmates to make sure they would be safe from the disease when they go home to their families.

But on Tuesday, the test results of the 13 inmates came out, confirming them positive for the SARS-CoV2 virus. They were brought to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) facility in Barangay Cabatangan for isolation and treatment.

The test results of the 17 more of their fellow inmates came out on Wednesday night.

Covarrubias said all the remaining 30 inmates were immediately transferred to the Zamboanga Ecozone compound to complete their 14-day quarantine.

Dr. Joshua Brillantes, assistant regional director of the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Mindanao, said that aside from the COVID-19 cases here in this city, five other COVID-19 cases were monitored in Zamboanga del Sur and one in Zamboanga del Norte.