Minglanilla Mayor Elanito Peña wants all municipal employees to be tested for COVID-19 after employees from four of its offices tested positive for the virus. CDN Digital photo | Rosalie Abatayo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Minglanilla Mayor Elanito Peña has ordered the mass testing of all municipal employees, including casuals and job order workers, after employees of four of its offices tested positive for the coronavirus disease.
On Monday, August 3, 2020, Peña issued EO no. 29, which also sets for the four-day closure of the municipal hall effective Tuesday, August 4, until Friday, August 7.
In an interview, Peña said the departments in the town that have positive cases are the Municipal Agriculture Office, Budget Office, Treasurer’s Office, and the Municipal Engineering Office.
“Aside from the disinfection og the municipal hall premises, I would also want to have all the employees undergo swab testing for COVID-19,” Peña said in Cebuano.
Under Peña’s EO, the employees cannot get inside the municipal offices without the clearance from the Municipal Health Office.
While the municipal hall is physically closed, the order directs the employees to report on a work-from-home set-up.
The WFH arrangement, however, does not cover frontline workers such as the health and safety personnel of the Rural Health Unit (RHU), emergency responders, traffic enforcers, social welfare services personnel including those aside in the distribution of relief goods, the tourism office which is in-charge in facilitating locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and those tasked for the meals of the persons who are in the town’s isolation facility, and those working in the public market, and those assigned in cleanliness and sanitation tasks.
As of August 2, Minglanilla has a total of 396 COVID-19 infections where 98 remain as active cases. The town’s recovery count is already at 278.
It has also logged a total of 20 COVID-19 patients who passed away. /bmjo