DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 June) — The Regional Trial Court Brach 8 of Davao City will be closed for eight days from June 28 to July 5 for quarantine of its personnel and disinfection after one of its utility staff tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In a letter dated June 26 addressed to Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, a copy of which was released on June 27, Judge Glenn DC Aquino of RTC Branch 8 said the court’s utility staff, who last reported for work on June 21, was informed of the positive result of her reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test by phone by personnel of the City Health Office (CHO).
“Unfortunately, because of the sheer bulk of COVID-19 tests being conducted by the CHO on a daily basis, the official copy of the test result of our utility staff is not yet immediately available,” he said.
Aquino said the court will be closed to prevent the risk of further exposure by the rest of the staff and to undergo mandatory self-quarantine protocol as additional precautionary measure.
A copy of this letter has been sent to CHO to schedule a swab test for their personnel and conduct disinfection in the court premises in compliance with paragraph 5 of Administrative Circular No. 101-2000.
The circular provides that “once the confirmatory RT-PCR test yields a positive result, the concerned court which was exposed to the confirmed COVID-19 case shall be immediately disinfected.”
As of June 27, DOH-Davao reported 40,959 cases with 9,870 active, 29,715 recoveries, and 1,374 deaths.
Out of the total cases, Davao City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mindanao, logged 23,646 cases with 5,285 active, 17,504 recoveries and 857 deaths.
Davao de Oro tallied 3,067 cases, Davao del Norte with 7,851, Davao del Sur with 3,162, Davao Occidental with 581 and Davao Oriental with 2,652. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
