20 contacts of COVID-19 patient from Casili negative of virus

A health worker takes a nasal swab sample from a resident as they conduct mass testing for COVID-19 in Manila, Philippines on Friday, May 8, 2020. The whole of metropolitan Manila is still under enhanced community quarantine to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. |AP Photo/Aaron Favila

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The municipal government of Consolacion on Friday, June 5, announced that all 20 close contacts of a patient from Barangay Casili tested negative of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In a statement on Facebook, local government officials of Consolacion quoted their Mayor Joannes Alegado saying that they had received the laboratory results of the contacts’ swab samples.

“Swab test results of 20 direct contacts for last week’s case from Barangay Casili (were) negative,” the post said.

Last May 24, Alegado announced that they recorded their 6th COVID-19 patient, an 81-year-old female from Barangay Casili. Based on a series of Facebook posts from the local government, the patient was still being treated in a government hospital in Cebu City as of May 29.

READ MORE: Consolacion mulls ‘mass testing’ for contacts of COVID-19 patients

A total of 69 swab samples were collected from individuals found out to have come in close contact with the town’s previously confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Of these numbers, 47 test results came out negative while one was positive of SARS-CoV-2 as of Wednesday. Town officials said they were still waiting for the laboratory results of the rest of the tests.

Consolacion is a first-class municipality located approximately 20 kilometers north of Cebu City. It has documented a total of eight COVID-19 cases, three of whom have already recovered. /dbs