OFW returning to Negros Occidental tests positive for COVID-19

BACOLOD CITY –– A 41-year-old repatriated overseas Filipino worker (OFW) here tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Bacoleño, who worked on a cruise ship, left Miami, Florida in the United States on April 17 and was quarantined in a hotel in Manila from April 18 to May 12.

His initial test done in Manila on May 2 yielded negative results for COVID-19, said Dr. Grace Tan, spokesperson of the Bacolod Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19.

He arrived in Bacolod City on a 2GO Malasakit Voyage on May 13 and was immediately placed under a 14-day quarantine. The man underwent a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on May 19 and tested positive for the virus.

Tan said the City Health Office would transfer the asymptomatic patient to a quarantine facility in the city, and subject him to a repeat RT-PCR test after two weeks.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia reminded the people that COVID-19 is present even if some restrictions are eased.

“The virus is still there. Let us be careful and continue to observe the minimum health protocols, such as wearing of face masks and observing physical distancing as we grapple with this pandemic,” he said.

As of May 25, four repatriated OFWs in Bacolod City and seven others in Negros Occidental tested positive for COVID-19.

In the entire Western Visayas, at least 32 repatriated OFWs tested positive for COVID-19.