LA TRINIDAD, Benguet June 7 – Benguet and Abra recorded additional confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases amidst the further downgrading of their status from the previous general community quarantine (GCQ) to modified GCQ.
In this capital town, Mayor Romeo K. Salda disclosed that the latest confirmed COVID-19 case in the municipality is a 22-year old male vegetable truck helper who lives at Sitio Botiwtiw, Balili barangay and had history of travel to Metro Manila.
He added that the patient and his driver went to deliver vegetables to Manila Last May 31 to June 1 and arrived in the locality early morning of June 2.
However, the patient reportedly experienced headache on June 3 and reportedly boarded a taxi in the evening to have himself undergo the needed medical treatment at the Baguio General Hospital (BGHMC) where he was immediately swabbed because of his history of travel to an area with high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Salda claimed that contract tracers discovered that he allegedly delivered some errands in Metro Manila prior to going back home.
The local chief executive admitted that the patient could not remember the trade name and license plate number of the taxi that he boarded on June 3 that is why efforts are being done to locate the same while his driver who resides in Barangay Dontogan, Baguio City has been referred to Baguio City for further contact tracing of his contacts.
The patient is reportedly in stable condition undergoing strict isolation in the Baguio-based health facility.
Earlier, the first 1 COVID cases in Benguet that all came from La Trinidad were able to recover before the discovery of the latest patient.
In Abra, the new COVID-19 case is a 32-year old female health worker at the Seares Memorial Hospital who is a resident of Poblacion, La Paz town.
The 4th COVID-19 case in Abra was recorded after more than 2 months of no COVID-19 case in the province that paved the way for the implementation of a total known in Poblacion, La Paz town pending the conduct of contact tracing, disinfection and patient management.
Health authorities disclosed that the patient is reportedly asymptomatic and is now in stable condition in a local health facility.
In the Cordillera, Baguio City remains to be the top-notches with 36 confirmed COVID-19 cases followed by Benguet with 13 cases, Abra – 4 cases, Ifugao -2 cases and Apayao with a single case.
Of the 56 COVID cases in the region 49 individuals were able to recover from the deadly virus, 6 are still confined in different health facilities while there was only a single COVID-19 related death.
By Dexter A. See
