ILOILO City – The recent three-day widespread testing at city hall has so far yielded 30 individuals – including three department heads – positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
But there’s good news, too – 875 test results of city government employees and officials were negative for the virus, according to the city’s COVID-19 Team spokesperson Jeck Conlu yesterday.
The testing from Sept. 23 to 25 covered a total of 2,385 persons working at city hall. They were swabbed at the Iloilo City Freedom Grandstand and their specimens were analyzed.
More test results are expected to be released this week.
On Saturday, Conlu said among the 30 coronavirus-positive persons were three department heads and one executive assistant.
The department heads were City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Donna Magno, Human Resource Department head Leo Elevencione and General Service Office head Joren Sartorio.
These three officials agreed that they be publicly identified for the easier tracing of those who may have made close contacts with them, said Conlu.
Friday last week, Councilor Jay Treñas announced he tested positive, too, for SARS-CoV-2, albeit asymptomatic.
Like Treñas, the three department heads were also showing no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough or diarrhea, among others.
Magno, Elevencione and Sartorio are currently at the city government’s quarantine facility. They will stay there for two weeks or until they have been cleared.
Last week the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the City Health Office recorded 29 employees at the City Treasurer’s Office positive for COVID-19. This prompted Mayor Jerry Treñas to order three days of widespread testing at city hall.
The city’s chief executive, however, acknowledged that the three-day testing may not be enough to constantly ensure that city hall personnel and officials are COVID-19-free.
Thus he ordered weekly random RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing at city hall.
“We also suggest the same at the Iloilo Fish Port, offices and businesses with many employees such as the business process outsourcing companies, malls, supermarkets and banks, among others,” said Treñas.
As of Sept. 26, Iloilo City’s COVID-19 cases reached 2,116 with 53 deaths, data from the Department of Health Region 6 showed.
But with 1,113 cases having recovered, Iloilo City’s active COVID-19 cases as of Saturday were down to 950.
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.
Symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These are fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
COVID-19 is spread mainly through close contact from person-to-person. Some people without symptoms may be able to spread the virus.
Transmission is possible between people who are in close contact with one another (within about six feet) and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.
These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs./PN
