After PCR test in Cebu 5 OFWs positive for COVID

CEBU, Philippines —  Five of the 200 overseas Filipino workers who returned to Cebu Province from Manila on April 28 had tested positive for COVID-19 with the test here, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia disclosed yesterday.

The five are from Poblacion, Liloan; Maya, Daanbanatayan, Looc, Danao City; Sac-sac, Consolacion; and Colon, Naga City.

They have been in quarantine since their arrival even after spending 14 days in quarantine in Manila.

Garcia said the five were tested in Manila together with the other OFWs using the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) but were found negative. When they arrived at the Cebu port, swab samples were taken from them as additional safety measure, but this time, using the PCR test.

“Nipasar ni sila tanan sa RDT usa sila gipasakay sa barko nga 2GO. Apan pag-abot dinhi, ato na man pud gipa-swab. Gi-swab ni sila ug karon nigawas ang resulta, positibo diay kaning lima nga nagagikan sa probinsya," Garcia said.

(All of them who boarded the 2GO vessel passed the RDT. Swab samples were taken from them when they arrived here and results say five of them from the province test positive)

"Ayaw mo kabalaka kay under quarantine pa ni sila. Ang akong gihangyo niadtong pag-abot gyud sa mga OFWs nga sila ipahimutang ug 14-day quarantine period," she said.

(Don’t worry because they are still in quarantine. It was my request that they be placed in quarantine for 14 days immediately after arrival)

The five who tested positive have been moved to a quarantine facility away from the hotels in Cebu City where the other OFWs are in isolation.

Still in the province, Mandaue City recorded nine new cases yesterday, bringing to 26 the total number as of yesterday with two recoveries and one death. All nine patients are inmates of the city jail

Talisay City and Minglanilla also recorded one new case each. The patient in Talisay is from Barangay San Roque while the patient from Minglanilla is from Barangay Linao.

Cebu City

Meanwhile, Cebu City greeted the month of May with 30 new cases, bringing the total to 760 as of yesterday.

The City Health Department posted a breakdown of the 30 cases:

•             2 in Barangay Apas in Sitio Baca and PC Hills

•             1 in Tanguli, Busay

•             2 in Barangay Lahug in Nivel Hills and Sunset Drive

•             2 in Barangay Punta Princesa in Tres de Abril

•             1 in Barangay Bulacao Pardo

•             4 in Tinabangay, Alaska Mambaling

•             2 in Barangay Suba

•             7 in Barangay Luz (4 from sitio Santo Niño and 3 from sitio San Vicente)

•             1 in Sitio Calumpang, Inayawan

•             1 in Nasipit, Talamban

•             4 in Cabajar, Guadalupe

•             1 in Juana Osmeña, Brgy Camputhaw

•             1 in Negative, Carreta

•             1 in city jail

Twenty-four residents of Mambaling who tested positive have been transferred to the Mambaling Elementary School, which serves as a barangay isolation center. With the four new cases yesterday, Mambaling now has 35 cases.

Evening the other day, 31 residents of sitio Callejon in Barangay Labangon who also tested positive were transferred to the Labangon Elementary School, the barangay’s BIC. Labangon has 125 cases as of yesterday.

Seventy-nine of the patients who are positive asymptomatic are now isolated at the BIC.

The city government has distributed relief goods in Labangon, especially to sitios that have been put on lockdown.   JMO (FREEMAN)