Cultural town in Ilocos Norte logs 1st COVID-19 case

The cultural town of Adams in Ilocos Norte records its first ever case of COVID-19 infection a year after the virus hits the country. (Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government)

LAOAG CITY—A cultural town perched atop mountains in Ilocos Norte province had logged its first ever coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case, according to health authorities on Saturday, April 24.

Adams town’s first case is a 36-year-old resident who recently returned from Quezon City in Metro Manila, local health records showed.

The town had been virus-free since the pandemic broke out last year even as some areas there remained open to tourists.

Adam is one of the four cultural communities in Ilocos Norte and is located approximately 108.3 kilometers north of the capital city of Laoag.

The town has only around 1,792 residents, according to the latest government population survey.

Recent health records from the provincial government showed that Ilocos Norte had recorded around 228 COVID-19 cases in seven days from April 18 to April 24.

During a press briefing last week, Dr. Norman Rabago, provincial health consultant, said that a health task force in Ilocos Norte was “correct in assuming” that the rise of COVID-19 cases in Ilocos Norte since March was due to the presence of new COVID-19 variants in the province.

On April 19, Rabago reported that the two more contagious variants of SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, had been found in the province recently.

So far, Ilocos Norte has a total of 1,661 COVID-19 cases, of which 400 remain active. Most of the active cases have been traced to Laoag City, San Nicolas, and Dingras towns.

In San Nicolas, a virus outbreak had started last March when a vendor tested positive for the disease which led to the infection of at least 100 individuals.

Almost a month after, the provincial government said that the outbreak, which was traced to the public market in San Nicolas, was already “under control.”

San Nicolas still has 80 active cases as of April 24, according to local health data.

Another outbreak could hit San Nicolas after agents of a call center in the town had tested positive for the disease last week.

Health workers conducted mass testing on April 25 among the employees of the call center to determine the virus carriers, according to the provincial government.

A health task force was also trying to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Dingras after cases had suddenly surged in the town, with only four cases on April 15 tally to 71 active cases on April 24.