BORACAY – What triggered the surge in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) here?
“May pattern ang pag-spread ng infections from a tourist,” according to Dr. Athena Magdamit, Municipal Health Office (MHO) chief of Malay, Aklan.
A tourist from the National Capital Region (NCR) attended a party at a bar on March 10. The tourist then tested positive for coronavirus after he returned to Manila on March 13.
Three days after, those who attended the bar party also developed COVID-19 symptoms but did not inform the MHO or had themselves checked.
“Naghawa-hawa doon sa party. Napag-alaman natin na hindi sumunod ang nasabing establishment sa minimum health protocols,” said Magdamit.
The tourist’s close contacts attended other occasions in Boracay “at na-expose ang ibang kaibigan nila,” added Magdamit.
The MHO is not discounting the possibility of an island lockdown to curb infections. Magdamit said Boracay now has the most number of active COVID-19 cases in Aklan, the most since the start of the pandemic last year.
“May possibility na may lockdown but we are hoping and praying na sana bumaba ang mga kaso sa barangays Balabag at Manocmanoc,” said Magdamit.
The total cases in Malay surged to 139, including 84 active cases and 58 recoveries as of April 1.
Of these active cases, Boracay’s Barangay Balabag tallied 48 cases; Barangay Manocmanoc, 27; and Yapak, one.
Other active cases were in mainland Malay: Caticlan, three; and Argao, one.
The following were the zones in Barangay Balabag with COVID-19 cases:
* Zone 5 (Bulabog) – 21
* Zone 6 (Balabag Extension) – 20
* Zone 1 (Diniwid) – three
* Zone 3 (Pinaungon/Sinagpa) – three
* Zone 7 (Manggayad) – one
Barangay Manocmanoc’s Zone 1 had nine cases; Zone 7, eight; Zone 4, five; Zone 2, three; and Zone 3, one.
From swab samples taken between March 26 to April 1, 47 Balabag residents tested positive for COVID-19 (out of 85 close contacts) while 26 close contacts out of 67 contracted the virus in Barangay Manocmanoc./PN
