BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (August 17, 2020)—Four religious leaders playing a pivotal role to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic were confirmed positive of the disease after they attended a prayer meeting led by a bishop in Kalinga province.
They were among the 18 newly confirmed coronavirus-positive cases admitted at the Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC), according to Dr. Glenn Mathew Baggao, CVMC chief.
Baggao said the four pastors were fetched by an ambulance from Kalinga after their August 12 second swab tests came out positive of the virus.
They were identified as a 48-year-old female from Barangay Sta. Margarita in Baggao town, a 41-year-old male from Barangay Masikal in Amulung town, a 55-year-old female from Barangay Malummin in Tuao town and a 49-year-old female from Barangay Dalaoig in Alcala town.Contact tracing showed that the pastors had gone around Cagayan province before they went to Kalinga for the prayer meeting.
Baggao said there were eight more patients who were admitted at the CVMC Covid Ward in addition to the 18 newly admitted patients. Of the 18 cases, nine were from Cagayan, seven from Isabela and two from Kalinga in the neighboring Cordillera region, he added.
Cagayan Valley had a total of 524 recorded Covid-19 positive cases from the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino as of August 15, while none was recorded for the island province of Batanes since the outbreak of the disease in mid-March.
In Aurora province, another coronavirus-positive case has been confirmed, the second for the province also since mid-March.
Ariel Angara de Jesus, San Luis town mayor, said the patient is an eight-month-old baby who was exposed to the grandmother, the first recorded Covid-19-positive case with medical condition in the capital town of Baler.
On August 4, the baby arrived in Baler with the grandmother from Pasay City with complete requirements like travel authority and 14-day quarantine certificate, thus, they were allowed to be on home quarantine.
But the baby was brought to relatives in Sitio Pulo in Barangay Zara in San Luis because the grandmother who was then sick can no longer take care of the baby.
On Thursday, the grandmother was confirmed by Baler Mayor Rhett Angara to be Covid-19-positive after she had a swab test on August 10 at the Aurora Memorial Hospital (AMH) where she was brought when she became unconscious.
Also on Thursday, the baby was brought to AMH for a swab test and found positive of Covid-19 on Saturday. The baby is in a stable condition and showed no symptoms of the disease, according to AMH. (TMT)