ILOILO City – Strict enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is needed to avert a sustained community spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas.
DOH Region 6 yesterday confirmed a second case of local COVID-19 transmission in Iloilo province, this time in Lambunao town.
The first such transmission in the province was in Guimbal town. It was confirmed only on March 31.
According to DOH-6, Lambunao registered its second positive case of COVID-19 – a 44-year old female; she is a daughter of the town’s first case, a 70-year-old male who died.
The 44-year-old woman is Western Visayas’ 25th confirmed COVID-19 case and one of three new cases in the region recorded yesterday.
The two others were:
* a 62-year old female (Patient No. 23) from Bacolod City; died on March 31, 2020 and had a close contact with the region’s Patient No. 7, a 40-year-old male from Bacolod City
* a 66-year old female (Patient No. 24) from Aklan; stable condition but in isolation; she had close contact with Patient No. 8, a 68-year old male from Aklan.
The three new cases brought the total tally of the region’s confirmed case to 25 (19 currently admitted in hospitals, one already recovered/discharged, and five expired.
According to DOH-6 focal person on COVID-19 Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, community spread happens when people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.
In Iloilo’s first COVID-19 local transmission, a 59-year-old male from Guimbal who tested positive for the disease apparently infected his househelp, a 51-year-old woman (now the region’s Patient No. 18).
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
“We need to strictly implement in every town the home quarantine…stay at home,” said Juanico.
As of 12 noon of March 31, DOH-6 recorded a total of 421 patients under investigation of which 176 tested negative from COVID-19; 106 have also been discharged while 117 others currently admitted in hospitals.
Meantime, a total of 35,943 out of 47,566 persons under monitoring completed their 14-day quarantine./PN
