Contact tracing czar Magalong tests positive for COVID-19

FILE PHOTO Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong

MANILA, Philippines — Baguio City mayor, also the country’s contact tracing czar, Benjamin Magalong on Saturday revealed he tested positive for COVID-19.

“It is with a sad note that I would like to inform everyone that as of my RT-PCR test conducted yesterday morning (April 2, 2021), to which my results came out at 4:30 p.m. of the same day, I was tested positive of the COVID-19 virus,” Magalong said in a statement.

Magalong further said contact tracing efforts are underway for those he came in close contact with, adding that the news came as a “devastating blow” to him and his family.

“The seriousness of this pandemic is something that we should not take for granted… It is a difficult situation and I don’t want anyone of you to be in this condition as it is emotionally, psychologically, and financially difficult for our loved ones to bear,” he said.

“However, despite the predicament I am in, please be rest assured that we are still monitoring closely the City’s situation and coordinating to the proper authorities the necessary things to be done,” he further said.

On Friday, the country recorded its highest single-day tally in new COVID-19 cases with 15,310. But the Department of Health (DOH) said that 3,709 of the new cases were backlogs caused by technical problems in the COVID-19 database.

Nevertheless, subtracting the backlog cases from yesterday’s total would still have yielded a record-high 11,601 cases.

On the day Magalong revealed he was stricken with coronavirus, the summer capital recorded 227 COVID-19 infections in a single day, although the number includes test results from Mar. 29 to April 2, according to the city information office. — with reports from Kimberlie Quitasol, INQ

EDV