State of calamity eyed in Pampanga over COVID-19

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – A state of calamity may be declared in Pampanga, where there are three cases, including a fatality, due to of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Gov. Dennis Pineda said an emergency meeting of the Pampanga Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is set on Monday to discuss the proposal.

Pineda said the first patient is a driver of ride-hailing company Grab plying Clark Freeport and Pampanga routes and confined in a hospital in Metro Manila. The family of the patient resides in Porac town.

He said the second patient visited a Muslim prayer hall in Greenhills, San Juan and was exposed to the first confirmed local case.

Pineda said the third case died on March 11. Test results on March 13 confirmed that the patient died of the flu virus.

He said tracing of those who had contact with the patients are ongoing.

“I am appealing to my kabalens who had recent travel abroad and who manifested symptoms of COVID-19 to seek help,” Pineda said. 

Contact tracing

Meanwhile, the management of Grab promised to help trace the passengers of its infected driver.

“We now have a team on standby to immediately respond and support the Department of Health’s (DOH) contract tracing and identify those who had close contact with the infected individual,” Grab said in a statement.

Grab said the driver, who was suspended for 14 days while on quarantine, would receive medical and financial support from the company.

“Since the start of the outbreak, we have been working very closely with the DOH to ensure that we have timely communication and support for our drivers as well as robust contact tracing processes in place,” Grab said.