BAGUIO CITY May 30 – Local executives in the city and nearby town of Itogon, Benguet ordered the total lockdown of three barangays in their areas of jurisdiction because of the failure of residents to comply with the general community quarantine (GCQ) rules and the presence of a confirmed Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 case in the said places.
Mayor Benjamin B. Mgalong ordered the total lockdown of barangays San Vicente and Poliwes after confirming numerous reports that residents that are out of their homes do not wear face masks apart from their refusal to observe physical distancing.
The lockdown of the said barangays took effect Friday evening following the failure of the residents to heed the call of the local government to comply with the prevailing GCQ guidelines to stay at home, wear face masks when in public places and observe physical distancing to prevent the possible spread of the dead virus in their communities.
Earlier, barangay San Vicente was locked down last month because of similar violations that were committed by the residents while Poliwes was locked down for the first time.
On the other hand, the local chief executive ordered the lifting of the lockdown of Purok 7 in barangay Pinsao Proper and Purol 6 in barangay Dontogan where the two latest COVID cases in the city came from following the completion of contact tracing activities conducted by the city’s combined contact tracing teams.
In Itogon, Benguet, Mayor Victorio Palangdan ordered the total lockdown of barangay Ucab following the presence of a confirmed COVID case in the mining town.
He said that the town’s first COVID case is a 40-year old jail clerk of the New Bilibid Prisons who arrived in the locality after bringing to barangay Loakan a dead inmate from the same prison facility.
Palangdan immediately ordered the conduct of aggressive contact tracing for his close contacts in several barangays in the municipality and his relatives and co-workers for them to be subjected to the appropriate tests for early detection.
The latest COVID case in Benguet was discovered after all the 10 cases that were all from the capital town of La Trinidad were able to recover following the provision of the needed health care services by the different health facilities in Baguio and Benguet.
The latest COVID patient in Benguet is now confined at the La Trinidad-based Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) and is now in stable condition.
The jail clerk reportedly tested negative for COVID in rapid test that was undertaken by the Bureau of Corrections prior to his travel to the locality to escort a dead inmate that was brought home to his place.
By Dexter A. See
