Cebu City PNP, DepEd offices on lockdown

CEBU, Philippines — At least 25 personnel of the Cebu City Police Office have been found positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 in rapid anti-body tests.

Col. Cydric Earl Tamayo, Cebu police officer-in-charge, said the offices of the operations and city director,  where 14 of those who tested positive for the virus were quarantined, were placed on lockdown.

Tamayo said the police officers would undergo swab test if they would manifest symptoms.

Tamayo gave assurance that there would be no disruption in the operations of the police offices on lockdown.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DepEd) office in Cebu City was closed yesterday after its two nurses tested positive for COVID-19.

Rhea Mar Angtud, DepEd-Cebu City division superintendent, said the office is closed to the public until the end of the month to pave the way for disinfection.

“Operations will continue, but employees will be working from home,” Angtud said.

The Freeman learned that the infected nurses were deployed in checkpoints and schools identified as barangay isolation centers.

The city health office recorded 104 new cases and six deaths yesterday.

There are now 4,241 COVID cases in Cebu City, 2,182 of them active cases. Sixty-four have died.

80 new cases in Eastern Visayas

In Eastern Visayas, 80 new cases were recorded in the past three days.

Two cases were added to the 78 recorded on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the total number of infected persons in the region to 344.

Eastern Visayas recorded its first fatality on Tuesday night.

The towns of Libagon, Tomas Oppus, Bontoc, Padre Burgos and Hinunangan as well as Maasin City, all in Southern Leyte, recently recorded their first cases.

The Department of Health regional office said returning residents from Manila and Cebu as well as overseas Filipino workers are among the latest cases.

In Pangasinan, Mayor Joel delos Santos of Sta. Barbara placed neighboring barangays Maningding and Ventenilla on lockdown until June 26 after a resident tested positive for the virus.

A beneficiary of the Balik Probinsya program is the first confirmed case in Aurora, Isabela.

Mayor Joseph Christian Uy said the patient, 38, arrived from Pasay City on June 2. She tested positive for COVID-19 in both rapid and swab tests.

DFA apologizes

As this developed, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. apologized to the British government for the death of its citizen who was allegedly turned away by a hospital in Cebu.

“British national Barry died yesterday after being turned away by Chong Hua Mandaue, told to go to Chong Hua Fuente where he was made to wait in the ambulance from 2 to 10 p.m.,” Locsin said in a post on Twitter on Thursday night.

“He never complained; got cardiac arrest; doctors didn’t help. He died. Shame. Abject apologies to UK,” Locsin’s post read.

In another post addressed to Ambassador Daniel Pruce yesterday, Locsin said he was informed that the hospital was “filled to the rafters” with COVID-19 patients. Eva Visperas, Helen Flores, Raymund Catindig, Iris Hazel Mascardo, Alicia Ivy Chua/The Freeman