Alegria places third sitio under localize lockdown after logging 3 more cases

The DOH-7’s case map on COVID-19 cases in Alegria town in Cebu’s southwest.

CEBU CITY, Philippines  — The municipality of Alegria placed another community in Barangay Santa Filomena under a localized lockdown after it confirmed three more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections.

On Saturday evening, August 1, the Alegria Public Information Office said they had to implement the quarantine measure in Sitio Cambunoc, Sta. Filomena, as two of the three new cases, Alegria COVID (AC) patient 04 and O6, are residents of the sub-village.

In a phone interview, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) told CDN Digital that Sitio Cambunoc has been placed under lockdown last July 30.

AC 05, on the other hand, is a family member of AC 02 who is from Sitio Tapon of the same barangay. The sitio was also placed under a localized lockdown on July 25 along with Sitio Upper Alangasil in Barangay Madridejos which also has one COVID-19 case.

READ: 2 sitios in Alegria, Cebu under lockdown after cases with ‘superspreader’ tendencies detected

In the official statement from the Office of the Mayor, AC O4 sougth consultation at the town’s health center after the patient experienced a fever for seven days and had difficulty in breathing.

Based on the data of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), the positive result of AC 04 came in on July 30.

AC06, who is an immediate relative of AC 04, was swabbed after the latter’s positive result was released. The swab test on AC 06 was released on Saturday evening, August 1.

“AC04 and AC05 were sheltered in our facility soon after immediate lockdown so they can be isolated and monitored. AC06 whose result was just available this evening will be in our facility tomorrow. Food packs were already distributed to the affected families,” Alegria Mayor Verna Magallon said in the statement.

Magallon said contact tracing activities for the newly confirmed cases continue. As of August 1, they have identified 19 households whose families may have been exposed to the newly confirmed cases.

“We have to lock down Cambunoc along with some households in Malbog, Mayana, and Guadalupe. Some family members of these households may have been exposed to the virus because they visited the patient’s house during such period she was infected with the COVID-19,” Magallon said.

To date, Alegria has a total of six confirmed cases with one recovery. Of the five cases that remain active, one has been referred to a facility in Cebu City “for a higher level of care.”

With Cebu province’s reopening of its tourism operations, the downgrading of the community quarantine status of Cebu City, and the expected return of more locally stranded individuals, Magallon called on her constituents to be more vigilant and to follow the established health protocols as the conditions could expose the town, located some 112 kilometers southwest of Cebu City, to COVID-19.

“The Cebu Seaports has just reopened. We expect more Alegrianhons to return home after being stranded from the different provinces in the Philippines. Moreover, we are continuously accepting returning OFWs and LSIs based on the Provincial and MIATF Guidelines. Tourism Industry in Cebu Province has reopened. Cebu City and other Cities in Cebu have been downgraded to GCQ. All these could expose us all easily to COVID-19, God forbid. We all have to be VIGILANT and do our share in preventing [the] spread of this disease,” Magallon said. / dcb