2 die in Bulacan COVID-19 quarantine sites

CITY OF MALOLOS –– A high-ranking police officer and a government employee in Bulacan succumbed to the coronavirus disease (CVID-19) while being treated in quarantine facilities, officials said on Friday.

Lt. Col. Ariel Alvarado, 45, legal officer of the Bulacan Provincial Police Office, died at the Governance Center Bulacan quarantine site on Saturday, Dr. Protacio Bajao, Bulacan Infection Control Center (BICC) director, said.

The Governance Center is located beside the Hiyas ng Bulacan Pavilion Convention Vaccination Center inside the Bulacan Capitol Compound.

Alvarado, a resident of Hagonoy town, also served as an instructor at Bulacan State University.

The other patient, Fernando Domingo, 59, died on Sunday while inside the intensive care unit of BICC, Bajao told Inquirer.

On a Facebook post, a daughter of Domingo said he died due to “COVID-19 pneumonia.”

Alvarado and Domingo tested positive for COVID-19, a few days before they were brought to the quarantine sites.

Two security guards assigned to the capitol building have also tested positive for COVID-19 and quarantined in the Governance Center, said Marcos Rivero, Capitol Civil Security Command chief.

On Wednesday, Gov. Daniel Fernando ordered the capitol building to be placed on a one-day lockdown for disinfection.

The provincial government also started imposing a month-long curfew and liquor ban again after health authorities saw a spike in COVID-19 infections this month.

Fernando issued an executive order implementing the tougher measures, while the province remained on a modified general community quarantine until April 17.

The curfew hours will run from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., Fernando told the Inquirer in an interview.

As of Tuesday, records from the provincial health office showed that the active cases have ballooned to 1, 175. INQ

LZB