In Misamis Oriental town, vice mayor’s SARS Cov2 infection declared a case of local transmission
ILIGAN CITY—The Department of Health (DOH) has declared a local transmission of SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, in Naawan town, Misamis Oriental following the infection of the town’s vice mayor, Jaime Roa.
Roa, 80, who went through the more exhaustive RT-PCR test, was confirmed positive of the virus on July 11, a day after the test.
He volunteered to be tested together with three municipal health workers who were found to have coronavirus antibodies after rapid tests.
The three health workers were negative in the more exhaustive test which Roa took.
Roa, a medical doctor, is the town’s first COVID-19 patient and his was one of 25 cases in Misamis Oriental as of July 13.
Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH regional director, said the DOH regional office’s tracing team could no longer determine how Roa was infected.
Dr. Gwendelyn Labastilla, Naawan municipal health officer, said Roa had not travelled abroad before or during the pandemic.
His only travel, Labastilla said, was to Cagayan de Oro which was work-related.
The DOH said local transmission is declared when the infection could no longer be traced and the patient has no history of travel to other countries or places with cases of local transmission.
As contact tracing continues, Labastilla said persons who had direct exposure with the vice mayor were immediately isolated and their respiratory samples taken.
As a result, the local IATF announced on Tuesday (July 14) that two persons, who had direct exposure to Roa, also tested positive for coronavirus.
The second case in Naawan is that of a 39-year old man, a resident of the village of Patag. The third case is that of a 57-year-old man who lives at the village of Poblacion.
Both had no history of travel to infected places.
The two had not shown symptoms but had antibodies against coronavirus.
The communities where they lived had been put on lockdown while the two patients were quarantined.
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For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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