New coronavirus infection prompts lockdown of De Oro community

LOCKED DOWN. A resident peeks from behind sheets of iron roofing that the city government of Cagayan de Oro used to isolate Zone 9 in Sitio Macanhan, Carmen village on Monday (June 1). FROILAN GALLARDO

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—-The city government has isolated an entire community in response to a new COVID-19 case in the densely populated area.

Dr. Lorraine Nery, city health officer, said a 59-year-old woman was found positive for SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the city’s first case since shifting to form of lockdown called modified general community quarantine last Monday (June 1).

The woman was a neighbor of the 62-year-old female patient who died last May 15, in Zone 9, Sitio Macanhan at the village of Carmen.

The community has been on lockdown since May 16.

The 59-year-old woman is the fourth person to have been infected in the community.

Nery said aside from the new patient, the husband and daughter of the 62-year old woman who died last May 15, have tested positive for coronavirus.

The three are now on quarantine in a facility in the city.

Using iron roofing sheets, the city government sealed off the community from the rest of the village, preventing residents from going out.

“The city government provides them free food so long as they do not go out,” said a resident of another community.

Nery said the lockdown would have been lifted on June 5 but the new infection moved the schedule to June 15.

She said there are five active COVID-19 cases in the city to date, including the two students who arrived from Cebu City last May 19.

Edited by TSB