53 village execs, watchmen in Cotabato town on quarantine after exposure to COVID-19 case

KIDAPAWAN CITY––More than 50 people, including officials of a remote barangay in Cotabato province, have been isolated after being exposed to a village council member who tested positive for COVID-19.

“Many of us remain asymptomatic, some are feverish, but not weak,” Ronaldo Oñas, a councilor of San Isidro of Midsayap, Cotabato, when asked about the condition of the other council members.

“One of us tested positive for COVID-19, so all of us had to be isolated and swabbed,” he said, adding that their families were also quarantined at home or in isolation facilities.

Of the 53 people who were exposed, 26 remained in isolation at the barangay facility. The rest were allowed to quarantine at home.

Those exposed are the barangay chairperson down to office workers and members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team.

“We are still waiting for the result of our reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests,” said Oñas, whose swab samples were taken Tuesday.

He said barangay hall transactions had been suspended for the next 14 days to disinfect the building and trace people who had close contact with those who tested positive for COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Dr. Eva Rabaya, Cotabato health chief, reported that the provincial IATF monitored six Delta variant cases in the province, although all the patients had recovered.

As of Sept. 14, Cotabato posted 1,392 active COVID-19 cases and 370 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

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