SANTIAGO CITY, Philippines – The lockdown of government offices in Ifugao’s Kiangan town, which was supposed to end on Friday (April 23), has been extended indefinitely by Mayor Raldis Andrei Bulayungan, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease.
The municipal offices were closed after a council member, four town hall workers, and four police officers contracted the disease on Tuesday (April 20).
On Thursday (April 22), Bulayungan announced that he had contracted the coronavirus and is under strict home quarantine after displaying minor symptoms.
Nine other COVID-19 patients were recorded on the same day, including a nine-month-old baby who was infected by his mother, a policewoman.
Bulayungan said he is waiting for the results of other municipal employees so “those who tested negative or those with the least exposure or those considered low risk upon assessment [may] return to work.”
The lockdown did not cover frontline workers of the health and disaster risk reduction management offices.
Contact tracing and testing in Kiangan are ongoing.