BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and 18 employees of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in the province went on self-quarantine yesterday after being exposed to an official of the DILG office in Iloilo during an anti-drug summit on Friday.
The official and 22 other employees tested positive for COVID-19, the DILG Westen Visayas office reported yesterday.
The provincial offices of the DILG in Iloilo and Negros Occidental were closed on Monday for disinfection.
Provincial administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Lacson and the 18 DILG employees would undergo swab tests today.
The DILG regional office said extensive contact tracing is underway.
20 inmates infected
In Cagayan, 20 inmates at the provincial jail in Tuguegarao City were among the 38 who tested positive for the virus yesterday.
Authorities said the transmissions were traced to 17 inmates who tested positive for the virus on Jan. 8.
Most of the patients manifested symptoms, such as fever, cold, cough, sore throat or difficulty in breathing, and were transferred to the jail’s isolation facility.
Also among the new cases are four barangay officials and a health worker in Libag Sur.
Tuguegarao City, which reverted to enhanced community quarantine on Jan. 20, has 310 active cases.
Mayor Jefferson Soriano, two city hall and 11 employees at the Department of Health were among those who were found infected following mass testing on Saturday.
Meanwhile, four rookie police officers deployed to Alcala town were sent back to the provincial police office after they tested positive for the virus yesterday.
Four other policemen assigned in Amulung town were also infected.
Back to MGCQ
In Ilocos Norte, Gov. Matthew Manotoc downgraded Laoag City to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) yesterday after the number of COVID-19 cases dropped.
Manotoc placed the city under GCQ on Jan. 11 when it recorded 126 active cases.
Laoag now has only 15 active cases.