Bataan, Bulacan post new cases

MANILA, Philippines — The provincial governments of Bataan and Bulacan reported new coronavirus  disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases over the weekend.

The number of confirmed cases in Bataan rose to 27 after an 86-year-old woman from Orion town tested positive on Saturday.

Gov. Albert Garcia said that before the Holy Week, the number of cases stayed at 23 for three days.

On Friday, the cases climbed to 26 after three women in their late 30s were infected with the virus.

One of the women is confined at a hospital in Subic Bay Freeport. The two others are being treated in Balanga City.

On the same day, two more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Bulacan.

The new cases included a 38-year-old man from San Jose del Monte City and a 51-year-old woman from Marilao.

The latest infections brought to 60 the total number of confirmed cases in the province. The number of deaths remains at 14.

In Rizal, residents are required to wear face masks when going out, Acting Gov. Reynaldo San Juan said yesterday.

Meanwhile, engineers of the Philippine Air Force are leading the construction of new quarantine facilities in Luzon.

The facilities are being constructed at Camp V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City; Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas, and at the Bulacan Medical Center and Sacred Heart Hospital, both in Malolos City, according to Maj. Aristides Galang Jr., chief of the Air Force public affairs office.

Each facility will be complete within six days and equipped with a nurse station, comfort room, shower room and 15 beds.  

The facilities will accommodate persons under investigation and monitoring.

More quarantine facilities are expected to be built in the coming days as the government prepares for mass testing. – Ramon Efren Lazaro, Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas, Roel Pareño, John Unson, Ben Serrano