Minglanilla plans mass testing COVID-19-hit areas

Map of Minglanilla, Cebu | via Google Maps

MINGLANILLA, Philippines – The local government of Minglanilla town in southern Cebu is planning to conduct massive coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing in infected areas.

In a statement on Facebook, the town’s local officials discovered that there are already two patients confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 as of April 30, 2020.

“Our mayor (Elanito Peña) is planning and preparing for mass testing in areas where there are reported COVID-19-positive patients,” the statement read in Cebuano.

Minglanilla on April 30 logged its second COVID-19 patient, a 15-year-old minor from Purok 2 Estaca, Barangay Tunghaan.

This development led its mayor, Elanito Peña, to place three more puroks in his town under total lockdown – Purok Estaca 2, Maria Uno, and Maria Dos – all of which are from Barangay Tunghaan.

Minglanilla is a second-class municipality located approximately 20 kilometers southeast of Cebu City.

The town’s first COVID-19 case was recorded in Barangay Pakigne. The patient happens to be a female frontliner.

Disinfection will also be implemented in these locations, officers added.

Contact Tracing

Health authorities in Minglanilla were quoted on the statement saying that they believed the virus that reached in Barangay Tunghaan, the town’s largest village with a population of over 14,000, originated outside their territorial jurisdiction.

They disclosed that one of the minor’s relatives works in a company that refills and manufacturers oxygen tanks for hospitals, and suspected that he could be the carrier.

The relative, they added, arrived in their residence in Barangay Tunghaan, Minglanilla on April 8 until he reported back to duty in Cebu City on April 20.

“The patient has been experiencing cough on April 24 and then had a fever on April 25. Several members of the household also showed similar signs,” the statement said.

As a result, health officers decided to place the minor, and his sibling who came in close contact with him, to place them in a designation isolation facility within the village. The two were subjected for swab testing during their stay there, and found out that the patient’s sibling tested negative of the virus.

Town officials also said they have contacted all members of the family, and told them to undergo swab testing on May 1, 2020

“The relative who was found out to be shuffling between hospitals to deliver oxygen tanks is now under quarantine in Cebu City,” they added.

Aside from the patient’s family members, Minglanilla’s health officers are also doing contact tracing on other individuals who could be his close contacts. /bmjo