Leyte Army camp locked down

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The camp of the 93rd Infantry Battalion in Kananga, Leyte was locked down on Tuesday after 21 soldiers tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

The military said a soldier who returned from an operation in San Isidro town on Oct. 10 and manifested symptoms of the disease first contracted the virus. He was confined at the Ormoc Doctors Hospital.

The camp was closed for contact tracing and disinfection.

Operation of the rural health unit in the camp was suspended for swab testing of health workers who attended to the infected soldiers.

Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, 8th Infantry Division commander, said soldiers in the region are on heightened alert due to a surge in confirmed cases.

The Department of Health-Eastern Visayas office recorded 6,357 cases, 961 of them active as of yesterday.

The death toll rose to 61, after two patients in Catarman and Laoang towns in Northern Samar died.

In Pampanga, the Romana Pangan Hospital in Floridablanca was placed on lockdown after 11 employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in Benguet hit 1,026 after 42 cases were recorded on Wednesday.

Benguet Gov. Melchor Diclas said more isolation facilities would be put up and coordination among local government units would be enhanced to address the increase in COVID-19 cases.