ILOILO – For three days, all work at the city hall of Passi are suspended due to rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Mayor Stephen Palmares ordered the shutdown beginning today for the building’s disinfection and contact tracing.
On Sunday, five latest infections were recorded at the City Administrator’s Office and City Population Office.
On Saturday alone, 16 residents were found infected – so far the city’s highest number of cases recorded in a single day. Of the 16, eight were employees of the city hall.
According to Palmares, there are now 16 workers of the local government unit (LGU) who contracted the viral disease as of Sunday.
He believed that the rise of COVID-19 cases in the city hall was a result of the recent pooled testing among regular, contractual and job hire employees.
Palmares also intends to subject market vendors and public utility vehicles drivers for swabbing.
“We are already anticipating that the number of COVID-19 positive cases in our city will continue to increase in the coming days and weeks because of the pooled testing. There is no reason for us to panic,” said Palmares. As of Oct. 24, more or less 1,000 city hall employees were already subjected to COVID-19 tests./PN
