LAOAG CITY –– A previously recorded coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in Ilocos Sur turned out to be infected with the more contagious UK variant, Ilocos Sur Gov. Ryan Singson said on Tuesday, April 13.
The Department of Health confirmed on Monday night that Ilocos Sur’s first COVID-19 variant case was a 58-year-old woman from Sta. Lucia town, said Singson in a Facebook post.
The woman, a National Tobacco Administration (NTA) agriculturist in Candon town, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 17, say local health records.
Health authorities said the woman never left the province but was exposed to a co-employee who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a gathering at the NTA central office in Quezon City on March 5.
Singson said cases of COVID-19 started to rise in Ilocos Sur after some NTA employees in Candon tested positive for the disease.
In the neighboring Ilocos Norte province, at least 11 employees of NTA in Batac City also tested positive for COVID-19 after they attended the same gathering at the central office.