ILOILO – Barangay Sulangan in Dumangas town was locked down by the municipal government beginning 5 p.m. on July 29.
A locally stranded individual (LSI) there who later tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was discovered to have participated in a drinking binge of six barangay tanods.
The lockdown would run for 72 hours or three days , according to Mayor Ronaldo Golez.
The drinking binge took place before the LSI’s COVID test result came out on July 27, according to Golez.
The mayor also learned that on July 27 itself, the LSI was able to get out of the barangay’s quarantine facility (covered gym) to buy cigarette and had a chitchat with barangay tanods.
The LSI returned to Dumangas from Manila on July 18. He was immediately taken to the covered gym of Barangay Sulangan for 14 days of quarantine.
On July 24 he was swabbed for a reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID test.
“Siguro kumpiyansa, amigohay kag parintihanay, daw okay lang bala. Pero later on na-found out nga COVID-positive sia,” lamented Golez.
The three-day lockdown would make contact tracing in the barangay easier, he stressed.
“Ang daku nga problema ang mga tanod nga naka-contact sa LSI. Nagalibot ina sila,” said Golez.
Barangay Sulangan has 715 households composed of more or less 3,000 individuals. Family members, friends and colleagues of the six barangay tanods must observe home quarantine for three days.
The municipal government would shoulder the meals of locked down households.
Meanwhile, the COVID-positive LSI was transferred to the municipal quarantine facility.
The six tanods were quarantined at the barangay hall of Sulangan. They would be undergoing RT-PCR test.
Golez said he was thinking of imposing sanctions on the LSI and the tanods for violating quarantine protocols.
The LSI was given a briefing before he was quarantined in Barangay Sulangan, he pointed out, but still violated instructions such as not leaving the quarantine area and not mingling with other people.
The tanods, on the other hand, knew beforehand that they must observe physical distancing with LSIs if they were not wearing personal protective equipment, said Golez.
COVID-19 can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with the disease coughs or exhales.
As of July 29, Dumangas had six COVID-positive cases, all LSIs. These were the following:
* 56-year-old female
* 24-year-old-female
*42-year-old female
*47-year-old male
*61-year-old male
*34-year-old female/PN
