Leyte, Pangasinan villages on lockdown

MANILA, Philippines — Two barangays in Leyte and five in Pangasinan have been placed on lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez restricted the movement of people in Barangay Cabalawan after a returning overseas Filipino worker (OFW) tested positive for COVID-19.

The patient, 29, arrived from Manila on Monday.

Barangay Pangasugan in Baybay City was placed on lockdown in the past two days after the local inter-agency task force on COVID-19 learned through social media that a resident stranded in Mindanao has returned.

“Traversed the mountains of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Norte. Passed eight COVID checkpoints and Coast Guard interrogation and here I am,” the returning resident said in a post on Facebook.

Vice Mayor Ernesto Butawan said administrative charges would be filed against concerned barangay officials for not reporting about it. He said criminal charges might also be filed against the returning resident.

Baybay City recorded its first cases last week from two returning OFWs.

The Department of Health-Eastern Visayas office said there are are now 47 confirmed cases in the region.

In Pangasinan, neighboring Barangays Paitan, Cauplasan and Samon in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan were placed on total lockdown after a returning resident was found infected with the virus.

Mayor Julius Ramos said the patient, a resident of Barangay Paitan who returned from Quezon City, was brought to the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital.

Contact tracing is ongoing.

Barangays Bolaney and Polo in Alaminos City also reported its first cases. The villages are on lockdown until June 15.

In Zamboanga City, a residential compound in Barangay Baliwasan is on lockdown until June 17 after a woman, whose 18-year-old son died of COVID-19, was infected.

There are now 155 confirmed cases in the city.

Two personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Isabela City and two residents of Lamitan City in Basilan were quarantined after they were found positive during rapid test.

Basilan has only one confirmed case, a 47-year-old militiaman.

Stranded residents

Meanwhile, Biliran recorded its first case yesterday.

The patient is a 19-year-old resident of Naval town, who came from Baguio City. He reportedly traveled to Catbalogan City on May 25 then traveled to Tacloban, where he took a van to come to Naval.

Naval Mayor Gerard Espina stressed the need for local stranded individuals to present a health clearance and other documents, noting that the patient was “undocumented.”

“We shall be stricter in our borders. No documents, no entry, especially on returnees,” Espina said.

A 43-year-old male who arrived in Samar on May 29 also tested positive for the virus. Lalaine Jimenea, Eva Visperas, Roel Pareño