Cebu City jail COVID patients hit 149

MANILA, Philippines — Twenty-four new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, 20 of them from the city jail, were recorded in Cebu City yesterday.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said Cebu City now has 352 confirmed cases, 149 of them inmates and jail personnel.

Labella said the infected inmates were transferred to a newly constructed city jail building. The infected jail personnel were isolated in a separate facility.

At least 123 people from the Cebu City jail tested positive for COVID-19, results released on Wednesday showed. Thirteen of those infected are personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

In Bulacan, no new case was recorded on Thursday.

The provincial health office said six patients – two from Pulilan and one each from Guiguinto, Bulakan, Malolos and Marilao – are the latest to have recovered.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Bulacan remain at 104. Twelve have recovered and 24 died.

In the Cordilleras, the latest confirmed case is a 79-year-old man from La Trinidad, Benguet.

Department of Health-Cordillera director Amelita Pangilinan said the patient is the 26th confirmed case in the region.

Pangilinan said 17 COVID-19 patients in Benguet have recovered and one died.

More medical workers infected

In Pangasinan, three medical workers at the Region 1 Medical Center are among the four new cases in Dagupan City.

The city public information office said Dagupan now has 11 cases, eight of them medical workers.

A number of health workers in Quezon are set to undergo mass testing for COVID-19, Grace Santiago of the Integrated Provincial Health Office said.

The province has 53 confirmed cases. Twenty-eight of the patients are health workers.

“Of the 28 health workers, 12 are with the provincial government-run Quezon Medical Center,” Santiago said.

In Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said two repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are the latest confirmed cases.

?The two are among the 35 Negrense OFWs repatriated from Cebu on April 14. Both are asymptomatic and have been isolated.

Negros Occidental now has four cases. –Ramon Efren Lazaro , Raymund Catindig, Eva Visperas, Michelle Zoleta, Gilbert Bayoran