Ilocos Norte public market on lockdown as vendors contract COVID-19

The public market in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province has been placed on a 14-day lockdown after some vendors were infected with COVID-19. Photo courtesy of San Nicolas municipal government

LAOAG CITY –– The public market of San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte was placed on lockdown after 44 people, most of them vendors, tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), authorities said on Monday, April 5.

Mayor Alfredo Valdez Jr. said health authorities in the province had recommended the market closed for at least 14 days, which began on March 31.

Last week, around 400 people were subjected to swab tests after a 34-year-old female market vendor contracted the virus on March 30.

In a radio interview, Valdez said the provincial health task force was eyeing placing the town under a stricter community quarantine to curb the virus spread.

Social gatherings in the town would also be banned, said Valdez.

Some offices at the San Nicolas municipal hall were also temporarily shut for disinfection starting Monday after some of its employees got exposed to previously recorded positive cases.

On April 4, Ilocos Norte recorded 57 new COVID-19 cases, the second-highest number in a single day in Ilocos Norte.

Burgos town had also broken its virus-free status after health authorities logged a confirmed positive case on April 2.

So far, the province had recorded a total of 1,119 cases, of which 191 remain active.

The death toll had climbed to eight, according to the provincial government.

LZB