7 inmates of Northern Samar jail test positive for COVID-19

TACLOBAN CITY – At least seven inmates at the Northern Samar Jail in Laoang town have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Laoang Mayor Harris Ongchuan said the facility was immediately placed under lockdown hours after the result was announced by the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday night.

Rei Josiah Echano, head of the Northern Samar Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said it is not yet clear how the inmates were infected.

“The local task force is still investigating the possible source of the infection inside the sub-provincial jail,” he said.

Echano said those who tested positive were immediately placed in isolation.

Gov. Edwin Ongchuan also distributed vitamins to all the inmates and jail guards of the facility.

The Laoang sub provincial jail currently holds 180 prisoners and has over 80 jail guards.

Meanwhile, the Dr. Gregorio B. Tan Memorial Hospital in Laoang was also closed to the public since Friday after one of its patients turned out positive for COVID-19 and could have exposed its health workers and other patients.

The public hospital will be disinfected and will resume its operations on October 13.

Northern Samar now has 171 cases of COVID-19 with one death.

/MUF