The patient, who had worked in Kuwait, arrived in Manila last June 4 and was quarantined in Bulacan for 14 days after coming out positive for COVID-19 in the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test.
She was allowed to travel home on June 21 and was initially brought to the town’s designated quarantine facility.
But while under isolation, Pacquiao said family members and other relatives of the OFW breached the protocols and visited her.
He said the overseas worker, who was already transferred to the provincial isolation center in Alabel town, eventually tested positive in two successive rapid diagnostic tests that was confirmed in another RT-PCR test.[]
“As of today, we already traced 26 persons who had close contact with the patient, and they are now isolated and under close monitoring,” he said in a radio interview.
On Tuesday, the municipal government placed the entire Maasim under total lockdown for 24 hours to facilitate the contact-tracing activities.
Pacquiao said all direct contacts of the patient were recommended to also undergo RT-PCR tests by Gov. Steve Chiongbian-Solon, who personally visited the area on Tuesday, and the Sarangani Health Office.[]
