DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 June) – The fifth confirmed and only remaining active case of Covid-19 in Mati City is an employee of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) assigned in Lupon town, Davao Oriental, the local government of Mati said.
On Wednesday, June 24, the Department of Health (DOH) – Davao reported that the patient is among the 13 new recorded positive cases in Davao Region.
The Davao Oriental Provincial Capitol in Mati. Photo courtesy of Google Street View
The patient, a 45-year old male resident of Barangay Central identified as DR-479 is the 22nd positive case and is among the four remaining active cases in Davao Oriental.
The city government said the patient came home from Lupon last May 31 and underwent home quarantine.
Initially, the patient and four other BJMP personnel tested negative for Covid-19 based on the rapid diagnostic test they underwent on June 15, the day his mandatory 14-day quarantine ended.
The Mati Incident Management Team (IMT) gave them clearance to go back to work based on the initial negative result.
As per the BJMP’s health protocol, all personnel reporting for duty are required to undergo a “quarantine clearance” through the mandatory two-week quarantine period and must be tested.
On June 18, the Provincial Task Force on Covid-19 required all personnel of BJMP–Lupon to be swabbed for the reverse transcript – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in compliance with the recently issued provincial order to swab personnel in enclosed facilities of the province.
Patient DR-479 was the lone employee of BJMP-Lupon that tested positive for Covid-19.
But Mati IMT commander Dr. Ben Hur Catbagan said that since the patient did not have any travel history outside the province he could have been infected either in Lupon or Mati.
The patient, who is asymptomatic, is currently in a “stable health condition” and is now quarantined at the Alternate Care Site – the designated isolation facility in Mati.
“If proven that the patient is without any travel history outside the province and has not been in close contact with any of the past confirmed cases in the province, then this would be the first case of a local transmission,” the local government said.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit has already coordinated with the two local government units and is currently tracing the individuals who may have had contacts with the patient.
Those who were already traced have already been placed under isolation and monitoring. They will also be subjected to swab testing.
Meanwhile, the province reported the recovery of patient DR-377, an asymptomatic 19-year-old female resident of Barangay Mahanub and the second case recorded in Baganga town. She was admitted on June 2 and was confirmed positive on June 9.
The provincial government said she already tested negative for the virus based on RT-PCR swab tests, but was still required to continue the mandatory 14-day home quarantine.
The patient was among the eight new recoveries in Davao region, seven of whom were from Davao City.
As of June 24, Davao region has a total of 488 confirmed cases, with 311 recoveries and 31 reported deaths. (Warren Elijah E. Valdez/MindaNews)
