ILOILO – The Rural Health Unit (RHU) of New Lucena, Iloilo was temporarily closed yesterday until further notice after three of its employees contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Mayor Liecel Mondejar-Seville said they immediately conduct contact tracing of all those who had close contact with the three RHU personnel – a doctor, a driver and an encoder.
They were the following:
* 37-year-old female (Patient No. 531)
* 37-year-old male (Patient No. 532)
* 53-year-old female (Patient No. 533)
According to Seville, these patients were all asymptomatic and were confined at the town’s quarantine center.
With the RHU closure, she advised residents who would need to avail themselves of health services to go to the New Lucena Polytechnic College Medical Clinic & Hospital.
Aside from the RHU, Seville also ordered on Monday the temporary closure of the municipal hall and other public places in New Lucena for disinfection.
However, the municipal hall will resume operation this Tuesday but only on skeletal work arrangement.
Seville said they will immediately subject close contacts to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing once local authorities finish tracking them down.
The three infected RHU personnel were among the four confirmed cases of the town that the Department of Health Region 6 confirmed on Monday.
The remaining case was a 27-year-old female locally stranded individual (LSI), also tagged as Patient No. 530.
These four new infections brought to five the total number of confirmed cases in New Lucena.
The town’s first COVID-19 patient was reported last June 26 – a 36-year-old repatriated LSI from Metro Manila (Patient No. 441).
Seville urged her constituents not to panic and strictly observe health protocols at all times such as social distancing and wearing of face mask./PN
