Tourist town Panglao reports 1st COVID-19 case

TAGBILARAN CITY—The tourist town of Panglao, Bohol province reported its first COVID-19 case on Tuesday (Oct. 27).

The patient was an employee of the company PhotoSynthesis Inc, based in Makati City, and had been working for EEI Corp., a construction firm handling work at the Bohol-Panglao International Airport.

The infected person arrived in Panglao last Oct. 17 and had been billeted at Henann Regency Resort and Spa, which had been accredited as a quarantine facility, to go into isolation for 14 days, a requirement set by the local Inter Agency Task Force (IATF).

Respiratory samples were taken from the patient last Oct. 22, or five days after arrival, according to a press statement by the municipal government of Panglao.

Last Oct. 24, the patient was transferred to Roman Empire Panglao Resort, which had also been converted into a quarantine facility, to complete the 14-day isolation period.

But in the evening of the same day, the patient complained of stomach ache. A doctor from the municipal government checked the patient. Tests yielded results positive for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Four employees of the rural health unit of Panglao, including the doctor, had gone on quarantine because of exposure to the patient.

Panglao Mayor Leonila Montero encouraged residents to heed basic health protocol.

The mayor, in a complaint filed by two residents, had been accused of violating the same protocols for travelling to Cebu aboard a yacht with several companions without clearance from authorities enforcing health measures in Bohol.

As of Oct. 27, Bohol has 464 COVID-19 cases with 10 deaths and 391 recoveries.

TSB