17 positive for COVID-19 at BGC construction site

MANILA, Philippines — A construction site at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig has been placed on a two-week lockdown after 17 workers were found positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

During the localized lockdown that took effect on Tuesday until July 7, “the health and welfare of the employees in the quarantine site [would] be closely monitored, and no one [would] be allowed to enter or leave the construction site,” the Taguig Safe City Task Force said in an advisory.

The local government did not provide details about the construction site, including its location, “in order to protect [the workers’] right to privacy and avoid unnecessary and undue harm to all the parties involved.”

Workers showing symptoms

On June 18, the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit investigated a report about several individuals at the construction site who were exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

Twenty-seven workers were tested for the coronavirus as well as dengue, typhoid and the Zika virus. The results showed that 17 of them were positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday night.

BGC is located in Barangay Fort Bonifacio which as of Monday, had only 29 active cases.With the 17 new cases reported overnight, the total number of confirmed cases jumped from 65 to 82—the highest among the city’s 28 villages.

‘Quite alarming’

“I know this is quite alarming but please be advised that all new cases were recorded in the BGC construction site that was ordered to go on lockdown [on Tuesday],” Barangay Fort Bonifacio chair Jorge Daniel Bocobo said in a separate statement.

“The past few weeks, we have seen that we were able to limit the positive cases in the barangay. However, with this incident, we are reminded that the threat of the virus and how it spreads is very real,” Bocobo said.

In May, the Department of Public Works and Highways allowed construction work to resume in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), subject to the strict observance of health and labor safety protocols under Department Order No. 39, series of 2020. Metro Manila was placed under GCQ effective on June 1.

Last week, the city government placed Purok 4, 5 and 6 in Barangay Lower Bicutan under enhanced community quarantine until July 1, following a clustering of COVID-19 cases.

Taguig has so far recorded a total of 714 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 21 deaths and 142 recoveries. Suspected cases set for testing numbered 3,753.