CEBU CITY, Philippines — Barangay Mambaling can momentarily breathe a sigh of relief as the initially reported new case of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, was actually an old case.
City Health Officer Daisy Villa told CDN Digital that the patient who resides in M. Pacubas Drive was already tested before and the recent result was only a repeat test.
Since the patient has already been brought to the hospital a month ago, this lessens the possible spread of the virus. Furthermore, contact tracing has already been done and so far, no new case has been recorded in the barangay yet, Villa said.
“Kining taga Pacubas Drive, old na ni siya. Dili na ni siya bag-o. Wala na kaayo ta naworry ana nga area pero di gihapon ta complacent. (That patient from Pacubas Drive, that is an old case. It is not new. We no longer worry for that area but we will not be complacent),” said Villa.
This is a welcome news for Mambaling chief, Gines Abellana. In a phone interview with CDN Digital, he said that there may be no need for a lockdown if the case was already old.
Although Mayor Edgardo Labella said that Mambaling was already on lockdown, Abellana said the lockdown was only a simulation and there was no lockdown imposed in the barangay yet.
“If old case man diay na, basin di na kailangan og lockdown. Pero kung unsay isulti sa mayor, sundon namo. (If it was an old case, maybe we don’t need a lockdown. We still wait for the directives of the mayor),” he said.
In his official statement published on Wednesday evening, Labella no longer specified the need for lockdown in Barangay Mambaling.
Abellana said there will be no lockdown yet for this barangay. However, he received new information that another case may have been identified in one of the sitios.
If the City Health confirms the new case, he will order a lockdown immediately. He urged the Mambaling residents to wait and remain at home as of the moment.
As for Barangay Guadalupe’s new case in Good Shepherd, village chief Michael Gacasan said there is no need for an order to lockdown the area.
He said the borders of Guadalupe had long been closed to outsiders and a total lockdown in the area of the Good Shepherd would only further restrict the movement in the area.
“Dugay naman ming lockdown sa Guadalupe (We have long been under lockdown in Guadalupe),” said Gacasan.
Still, a total lockdown would be a challenge as Good Shepherd has 500 families living in a wide stretch of land. They do not have markets or grocery stores for their needs.
Gacasan said this is the best solution and the barangay will help the residents as much as they can. /rcg