Rizal town mayor positive for COVID-19; Calabarzon cases rise to 159

SAN PEDRO CITY – Taytay, Rizal Mayor Joric Gacula on Sunday disclosed. that he has tested positive for the coronavirus disease 209 (COVID-19), as the total number of cases of the viral illness in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region jumped to 159, with 18 deaths.

Gacula, however, described his case as a “mild” since he began  experiencing symptoms on Tuesday.

The province of Rizal had recorded 50 COVID-19 cases and 7 deaths.

The cases were traced to Cainta, with the most number of infection and mortality in the province, Antipolo City, Taytay, Binangonan, Jalajala, Morong, Rodriguez, and San Mateo.

In Cavite, the number of cases soared to 43, with six deaths.

In Laguna, 36 people tested positive for the disease.  Three of the patients have died.

Across the region, five patients have recovered, one of them a 58-year-old woman, who was discharged from a hospital in Biñan City, Laguna after twice testing negative for the disease, said regional health officer Eduardo Janairo.

A video of the woman leaving the hospital facility showed the doctors and medical workers clapping and cheering for her.

Still in Laguna, test results of Raquel Seva, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Evangelista Specialty Hospital in San Pedro City, showed she was negative for COVID-19.

Seva died last Wednesday.

In Batangas, the number of cases hit 21, nine of them in Batangas City.

In Quezon, new cases were recorded, bringing the total number of infected individuals to nine.

GSG