TUGUEGARAO CITY—The northernmost town of Cagayan province, Sta. Praxedes, recorded its first COVID-19 case on Monday (March 29), after being virus-free more than a year since the pandemic broke out.
Sta. Praxedes Mayor Esterlina Aguinaldo said the patient is a 27-year-old overseas Filipino worker from Saudi Arabia who went home to the town recently. The woman had tested negative for the virus initially in Metro Manila, which is at least 600 km away from Sta. Praxedes.
Another test confirmed that the woman had been infected with SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The patient had contracted the virus from the driver of the car she rode to return to Cagayan, Aguinaldo told the Inquirer on Tuesday (March 30).
Aguinaldo said the woman showed no symptoms yet and had been taken to an isolation facility in the city.
“It is a sad news but we have to remain calm,” Aguinaldo said.
“The case at hand is beyond our control. Let us keep our morale up and together we will get through this. This is to keep the morale of our front-liners and remains hopeful,” the mayor added.