Virus cases, deaths rise in central, north Luzon

CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — The stations of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Plaridel and Guiguinto towns, Bulacan province, were placed on lockdown on Monday after 12 of their personnel were infected with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

They would be closed for 15 days for disinfection.

One of the six firefighters who contracted the virus in Plaridel had died, said Mayor Teresita Vistan.

In Guiguinto, six BFP personnel were quarantined in their offices and undergoing treatment. They might have caught the virus after a recent meeting, officials said.

As of Monday, Bulacan had recorded 1,770 COVID-19 cases, with 54 deaths and 618 recoveries. The number represented almost half of the 3,589 cases in central Luzon, which had also listed 64 deaths and 1,591 recoveries to date.

The surge in COVID-19 cases prompted the province to return to stricter modified enhanced community quarantine, along with the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, and Metro Manila.

In Baguio City, a 71-year-old retired doctor became the fifth COVID-19 fatality on Monday, following the death of two men, both 65. The three were among the 27 senior citizens who had been afflicted since the pandemic broke out.

In Mountain Province, the tourist town of Sagada on Sunday recorded its first case, a 29-year-old man who tested positive for the virus though he had not left the province.

Bontoc town, the province’s capital, also recorded a new case on Sunday when a 29-year-old policeman, who was recently reassigned to the province, contracted the virus.

—Reports from Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Tonette Orejas and Kimberlie Quitasol