Driver, stranded persons are latest COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental

BACOLOD CITY –– A driver of a government official and two locally stranded individuals (LSIs) were the latest victims of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Negros Occidental.

The 32-year-old driver of Board Member Valentino Miguel Alonso of Negros Occidental’s 6th district and two LSIs from La Castellana town and Bacolod City tested positive for the virus.

Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer said Alonso, his wife, and five others underwent a test for COVID-19 but they all tested negative.

Ferrer said there is no need to impose lockdown at the Capitol’s south wing that houses the Sangguniang Panlalawigan offices and the vice governor’s office.

Alonso had attended a provincial board session on Tuesday raising concern from some sectors.

But the board members said he did not have any close contact with his driver since March since he has been driving his vehicle himself.

Alonso said he sent the driver on a few errands and given him an allowance but he and his family have not been near him since March.

Still, he underwent a swab test to determine whether or not he has acquired the virus.

“I had to take the test for the safety of everyone. It’s the right and responsible thing to do. I am in public service, I could put at risk anyone who meets with me,” Alonso said.

The test yielded negative results.

Bata Barangay Captain Lito Abaring said 38 houses and 46 families in Purok Pine Tree, where the driver resides, have been locked down while swab specimens were taken from 10 residents.

“The driver and his live-in partner have been moved to a quarantine facility,” Abaring said.

The City Health Office was still investigating where the driver, the 18th COVID-19 case in Bacolod, was infected with the COVID-19.

LZB