Aurora town mayor contracts COVID-19

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga – The mayor of Maria Aurora town in Aurora province announced on Facebook that he had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Maria Aurora Mayor Amado Geneta disclosed the information last Thursday (June 3), the same day that Aurora Governor Gerardo Noveras revealed that he also contracted the disease.

The officials were among the 2,741 persons who were tested for COVID-19 using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in the eight towns of Aurora from May 28 to 30. This was after COVID-19 testing czar Vivencio Dizon sent a medical team from the Department of Health Region 3 to conduct a mass swab-testing.

“Ikinalulungkot ko pong ipinababatid na sa kabila ng aking ginawang pag-iingat ay nagpositibo pa rin po ako sa isinagawang malawakang RT-PCR Test dito sa ating bayan.

Nais lang po nitong iparating sa atin na walang sinuman ang pinipiling dapuan ng Covid-19 Virus (I sadly announce that, despite being careful, I tested positive for COVID-19 in the RT-PCR test conducted here in our town. This only means that COVID-19 does not choose its victims),” Geneta said.

The mayor then asked his constituents to continue following local government rules to control the spread of COVID-19.

“Ang Covid-19 po ay nandiyan lang sa ating paligid. Matuto na po sana tayo na mamuhay kasama ito sa pamamagitan ng pag-iingat at pagsunod sa mga health safety protocols na pinaiiral. Patuloy din po sana tayong magkaisa at magtulungan upang mapigilan ang pagkalat nito (COVID-19 is around us. Please learn to live around it by being careful and obeying health safety protocols. Let us also continue to cooperate and help each other in order to stop its spread),” he said.

Geneta also asked the people who had close contact with him in the past several days to immediately coordinate with the municipal health office or with their respective barangay officials.

“Iwasan din po sana ninyong makihalubilo at mag-quarantine po muna (Please avoid mingling with others and go into quarantine),” he added.

The mass RT-PCR testing in Aurora was conducted after Noveras requested Dizon’s help due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the province since March this year. Some 558 persons, that included municipal officials and employees and family members of active cases, took RT-PCR tests in Maria Aurora town on May 29 and 30.

As of the town’s latest bulletin on June 3, some 354 residents had negative results while 117 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The municipal government is awaiting the test results of 85 individuals, while two need to be re-tested.

As of June 4, Maria Aurora registered a total of 277 confirmed cases since March 2020, of which 188 remain active. The town also recorded four deaths and 85 recoveries from COVID-19.

/MUF