San Juan prayer room frequented by coronavirus patient ordered closed

MANILA, Philippines — San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Friday ordered the sanitation and temporary closure of a prayer room in Barangay Greenhills frequented by a patient who tested positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Department of Health (DOH) reported two more COVID-19 cases in the country, those of a 48-year old Filipino with a travel history to Japan, and a 62-year-old Filipino who was a regular visitor of a Muslim prayer hall in San Juan City.

“I have already instructed the San Juan City Health Office, with the support of the Department of Health, to immediately disinfect, sanitize, and close to the public temporarily the prayer room in Barangay Greenhills, which was frequented by a patient who lives in a municipality near Metro Manila whom the DOH has confirmed positive with coronavirus disease (COVID-19),” Zamora said in a statement.

Zamora said the local government, in coordination with the DOH, is already tracing the people the patient may have had contact with since he displayed symptoms in the last week of February.

“Rest assured we are working closely with the DOH and that we will release pertinent and verified information as we receive them,” Zamora added.

Zamora also encouraged the public to “stay calm, practice proper handwashing using soap and water or alcohol and execute proper cough etiquette.”

“Let us also keep our own individual areas disinfected and sanitized as a safety precaution,” he further advised.

Both patients are the first two “local cases” of the country, though the DOH said that it is still premature to say that local transmission has started.

The first three confirmed COVID-19-positive patients are all Chinese nationals.

EDV