7 kids get COVID after playing with medical waste in Catanduanes

HEALTH HAZARD: Hundreds of medical waste, such as syringes and blood sample tubes, are dumped at the shoreline of Barangay Concepcion in Virac, Catanduanes, on Jan. 24 and are believed to be the cause of the COVID-19 infection of seven children who played with them. (Photo courtesy of ANTHONY ARCILLA)

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — Members of a village council in Virac, Catanduanes, are suing the operators of a medical diagnostic center due to the illegal dumping of waste on the shoreline of Barangay Concepcion that reportedly caused seven children to get infected with COVID-19, the village chief said on Sunday.

Anthony Arcilla, village chief of Concepcion, said the complaint would be filed in the muncipal prosecutor’s office against Excel Care Diagnostic and Wellness Center for violation of the Toxic Substance and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990).

He said the complaint would also be submitted to the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Arcilla said village officials found on Jan. 24 a total of 1,978 syringes and 2,000, blood sample tubes for COVID-19 tests and HIV test kits inside a garbage disposal plastic bag, where some of its contents were scattered at the shoreline of Purok 3 of the village.

He said the village officials went to the area after they were informed that some children were seen playing with the medical waste.

The Inquirer tried to get the comment of the officers of the diagnostic center based on the names given by Arcilla but no phone numbers were available to reach them.

According to Arcilla, the seven children who played with the medical waste were subjected to an antigen test on Jan. 24 and all tested positive for the virus, he said.

The children were immediately isolated in their homes along with their families, he added.

The infected children would undergo a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test after completing their required five-day isolation period, Arcilla said.

No explanation

Arcilla said the incident prompted the village council to hold an investigation and called to a meeting the diagnostic medical officers identified as Doctors Manuel Guerrero, who is the company’s chair of the board, Susana Abrina and Moneth La Corte. Also in the meeting was the center’s medical technologist, identified as Josefina Reyes.

According to Arcilla, the officers of the diagnostic center could not explain how the medical waste had reached the village shoreline, which was some 500 meters away from their clinic in Barangay San Roque.

Arcilla added that Reyes, while in a meeting with the village officials, was also found to be positive for COVID-19 after receiving at about that time the result of her RT-PCR test.

This prompted Arcilla and the other village councilors who attended the investigation to undergo antigen tests. Fortunately, none of them tested positive for the virus, Arcilla said.