Woman from Brgy Pasil is Talisay City’s 7th COVID-19 patient

Talisay City map. |Photo from Google Maps

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A mother, who gave birth on May 10, 2020, was the latest addition to the list of coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Talisay City.

In a Facebook post this morning, May 12, 2020, Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas said that the woman, who came from Barangay Pasil in Cebu City, remains admitted at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), where she also gave birth.  The woman and her husband moved into Sitio Nonoc in barangay Tabunok, Talisay City just this March.

But Gullas said it remains unclear if her newborn baby also contracted the virus.

“I just got a call from DOH confirming that we have a new covid positive patient. They are really residents of Pasil but transferred to Talisay in the month of March. Nag abang cla dri sa Talisay (They are now renting a place in Talisay),” Gullas said.

He said that the woman was subjected to swab testing after she gave birth, a hospital protocol that applies to all their patients. The result of her swab test was released today, May 12.

Gullas said that the police and Tabunok officials were already sent to visit the residence of the woman whom he referred to as PT7 to especially retrace her family’s movements since they transferred to Talisay City on March 11.

“Police and the Barangay is now in the area so we will know what to do moving forward. We will provide our investigating teams and the police with PPE’s now so they can talk to PT7’s family directly,” Gullas said.

The outcome of their investigation will also help him determine if there was a need to order a lockdown in Sitio Nonoc and how many families will be affected and will have to be provided with lockdown kits.

Gullas said that PT7’s husband and other other members of her family will be made to undergo swab testing on Wednesday.

“[We] will also wait for the recommendation of the police, barangay and disaster office on how many more need to be swabbed tomorrow,” the mayor said.

Quoting the outcome of their initial investigation, Gullas said that PT7, her husband, and other members of her family moved to barangay Tabunok on March 11.

PT7’s husband told city officials in a phone conversation this morning that they never left their home since.

Gullas said that PT7’s husband is currently staying with his own family in Barangay Pasil.

The Talisay City Mayor found out that PT7 used Barangay Tabunok’s ambulance in going to Barangay Suba in Cebu City, where more than a hundred cases of the infection were already recorded, before she was admitted to VSMMC on May 9 or a day before she gave birth.

“Take note that ambulances are exempted to cross all borders. Kay emergency situations man na. Bisan asa. Exempted ang ambulance,” he said.

However, Gullas said it was clear that “they did not coordinate with Barangay Tabunok [in their decision to pass by Suba].”

Gullas said that they are now trying to retrace PT7’s movements to especially determine how long she stayed in Barangay Suba and what particular area she visited. / dcb