ILIGAN CITY — This city’s emergency operations center (EOC) overseeing the local response to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was closed on Thursday after its staff members were exposed to medical workers who tested positive for the virus.
More than 20 EOC personnel, including members of contact tracing teams, were asked to undergo testing and to go on isolation while awaiting results.
Six nurses of the local government-run Don Gregorio Lluch Memorial Hospital, where the center is located, have tested positive for COVID-19, said Jose Pantoja, spokesperson for the local task force on COVID-19.
Iligan had recorded 246 COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 26, a 136-percent increase from 104 cases on Aug. 12.
The barangay office of Saray village was also shut down after its village chief and several personnel tested positive for the virus.
On Wednesday, a police station was closed after an officer was infected.
A three-story building housing a garment shop producing police and military uniforms was also placed on lockdown starting Aug. 12.
At least 12 of the 80 people in the building, including the shop owner who lives there, tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Thursday, 67 had remained there. The city government asked them to stay in the building until isolation facilities were ready, according to Mayor Celso Regencia. —RICHEL V. UMEL