ILOILO – The Provincial Health Office (PHO) mulls a zonal containment strategy to areas with clustering of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.
Only houses, streets and puroks with COVID-19 cases and those of persons with “level 1 exposure” to the cases – the patient’s family and close contacts in the barangay – are covered, said PHO chief Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon.
Such zone, according to Quiñon, will also be enforced in towns with 25 percent of its total barangays having five COVID-19 clusters.
She noted that 54 barangays in the province have COVID-19 clusters as of Feb. 19.
A coronavirus cluster, she explained, occurs when there is a concentration of local infections in the same area at the same time.
“Barangays with COVID-19 clusters registered two or more local cases in the last 14 days,” Quiñon further said.
The town of Miag-ao had the most number of COVID-clusters reported in the villages of Baybay Sur, Baybay Norte, Mat-y, Naclub, Damilisan, Sapa, Guibongan, Kirayan Sur, Kirayan Tacas, Tajanlangit Street, Tacas, and staff house of the University of the Philippines Visayas.
Banate came in next with 11 barangays – Alacaygan, Barga, Bularan, Camros, Carmelo, Magdalo, Merced, Poblacion, San Salvador, Talokgangan, and Zona Sur. It was followed by Passi City with six barangays – Arac, Gines Viejo, Poblacion Ilaya, Poblacion Ilawod, Imbang Grande, and Sablogon./PN
