CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 21 July) – Authorities in Valencia City, Bukidnon, locked down the compound of Iglesia sa Dios Espiritu Santo where two coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients have resided.
Mayor Azucena Huervas visits a checkpoint along the highway in Valencia City, Bukidnon. Photo from Mayor Huervas’s Facebook page
Mayor Azucena Huervas issued Executive Order no. 49 Monday afternoon declaring the compound of Iglesia sa Dios Espiritu Santo in Purok 2, Barangay Lumbo, Valencia City as “a critical zone.”
Huervas placed the compound under Enhanced Community Quarantine and ordered the police to enforce extreme perimeter restrictions.
She also placed a 500-meter radius containment zone around the compound, limiting the entry and exit of residents in Purok 2.
Huervas issued the order after the Department of Health confirmed that two COVID-19 patients – case # 17 and case# 18, resided in the compound.
Case # 17, a 54-year-old returning male resident from Makati City, and Case # 18, a 19-year-old returning male resident from Antipolo City, were found positive of COVID-19 in a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. The results were made known at 4 p.m. Monday.
Lt. Col. Surki Sereñes, Valencia City police chief, said at least 23 members of the Iglesia Sa Dios Espiritu Santo who lives in the compound are affected by the order.
“They are not allowed to go outside the compound. Whatever they need will be provided to them,” he said.
Sereñes said the local government will provide the rice and food as well as emergency medical treatments.
For those living in the 500-meter radius containment zone, Sereñes said only those working will be allowed to get out from the perimeter. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
