Nine other crew members of M/TUG Schedar owned by Harbor Star Tugboat Company are reportedly now on a 14-day quarantine in their port of origin, Dumaguete City.
Based on the contact-tracing report conducted by personnel of Police Station 5 under Maj. Allan Abalde, the 39-year-old taxi driver is a resident of Barangay Maria Cristina in neighboring Baloi municipality in Lanao del Norte.
The taxi driver, police said, immediately went back to Iligan City and resumed picking up passengers. He went to the taxi operator’s residence in the evening to return the car and remit the car rental fee.
The driver is also a masseur, and a day later went to a military camp in Barangay Nangka in Baloi to provide massage services to three soldiers.
In the next days, he resumed driving in downtown Iligan.
Abalde said the driver had a drinking spree at home with four of his cousins and a taxi driver from Bacolod town in Lanao del Norte.
On July 12, Sunday, upon hearing the news that the police was looking for him, he voluntarily turned himself in and followed the health protocol advised him.
Cañaveral said the driver tested negative in a rapid diagnostic test and has shown no symptoms of COVID-19.
He is now on home quarantine and is being closely monitored by the Barangay Emergency Health Team.
The management of the Philippine Ports Authority here, meanwhile, vowed to implement a stricter health protocol for all people coming in and exiting the facility to prevent further spread of the virus. (Richel V. Umel / MindaNews)
