BACOLOD CITY—The acting budget officer of Negros Occidental and her brother-in-law tested positive for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Rayfrando Diaz, provincial administrator, said the two may have been infected by five “prayer warriors” for the dead who had visited them at home.
Diaz said the search is now ongoing for the five prayer warriors “who may be transferring from one wake to the next and spreading the virus.”
The provincial health office is trying to locate the persons to subject them to coronavirus tests.
The acting budget officer, Gemma Rose Flores, developed fever on Nov. 11 and submitted herself to tests on Nov. 13.
She was found positive for the virus on Nov. 14.
Diaz said contact tracing was immediately launched and members of Flores’ family and her colleagues in the provincial government had been tested.
Flores’ brother-in-law also tested positive for the virus but her co-workers at the provincial capitol tested negative.
The provincial budget office and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) session hall at the provincial capitol in Bacolod City have been disinfected.