City Hall starts transfer of COVID-19 patients from Brgy Labangon to isolation center

Cebu City government personnel transferred 12 COVID-19 patients from their respective homes in Barangay Labangon to the isolation center located at the Labangon Elementary School Friday night. | Photo courtesy of the Cebu City Public Information Office

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu City government targets to complete tonight, April 25, 2020, the transfer of Barangay Labangon residents, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), to their designated isolation center.

In a Facebook post, Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the barangay now has a total of 29 COVID-19 cases most of which are coming from Sitio Callejon.

“These patients will be closely monitored and given medical treatment by the Cebu City Health Department (CHD),” Labella said.

Labella said that as of Friday, the city government has already activated five Barangay Isolation Centers (BIC) to accommodate asymptomatic COVID-19 patients for quarantine and treatment.  The one for Barangay Labangon is located at the Labangon Elementary School.

He explained that the surge of COVID-19 cases in the barangay resulted from the conduct of extensive contact tracing and targeted mass testing.

The CHD already collected 500 swab samples from residents of Sitio Callejon and the surrounding sitios.

“We emphasize the need to do surveillance, screening, monitoring, and targeted mass testing. Data is necessary in order for us to determine the measures we need to adopt in the prevention of the spread of COVID19,” Labella said.

Those who tested positive for COVID-19 will be asked to temporarily vacate their homes for transfer to the BIC.

In a Facebook post, the Cebu City Public Information Office said that a total of 7 seven patients were transferred Thursday night while 12 others were transferred on Friday.

Labella said they are targeting to complete the transfer of the remaining patients tonight.