University, gov’t office suspend operations as COVID-19 cases surge in Puerto Princesa

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY –– The sudden surge in the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) transmission cases here prompted a university and a government office in this city to suspend in-person transactions to disinfect the premises.

The City Information Office (CIO) said at least 14 persons have tested positive for the highly infectious disease. These stemmed from an 82-year-old female patient who died from complications of COVID-19 on Sunday, Feb. 7.

All 14 patients were residents of Barangay San Jose and were close contacts of the deceased patient.

The CIO statement added that three of the 14 local cases were exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.

The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and the Palawan State University (PSU) have suspended in-person transactions and implemented work-from-home arrangements this week for their employees.

PCSD and PSU both announced Thursday, Feb. 11, that their offices have started undergoing disinfection.

PCSD said it started suspending its operations on Feb. 8 and would do so until Feb. 14 for general disinfection that would “ensure the health and safety of both our clients and employees.”

PSU, on the other hand, said it suspended operations in its campuses here from Feb. 11 until further notice given the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in the city and Palawan province and after consulting the University Management Committee and Local COVID-19 Task Force.

“During this period, precautionary measures such as disinfection and setting-up of needed COVID-19 equipment and facilities will be undertaken to prevent contamination and spread of [the] virus within the campuses,” the PSU advisory posted on social media said.

As of Thursday, Feb. 11, there were 23 active COVID-19 cases in Puerto Princesa out of 186 recorded since the pandemic struck in March last year. Two patients died while the rest have recovered.

LZB