Ifugao reports 1st COVID case
April 27, 2020
IFUGAO province, where the famous Banaue Rice Terraces are located, has recorded its first coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patient from the town of Lamut and the case was confirmed by the Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DoH-CAR).
According to the DoH-CAR, the patient from Poblacion East was brought to the Region-2 Trauma and Medical Center in Bayombong town in the neighboring province of Nueva Vizcaya.
Dr. Rhodora Montesa, Lamut Municipal Health Office head, in a Facebook post named Ifugao’s first Covid-19 patient, a 65-year-old, who was confined April 14-22 at Panodpodan District Hospital’s medical ward.
Montesa said with authorization of Mayor Mariano Buyagawan Jr. and permission from the patient’s daughter, she disclosed the name of the patient in her Facebook post for faster contact- tracing and rapid testing or swabbing.
That way, she added, they are hoping to be able to address and stop community transmission of the coronavirus.
Buyagawan said the suspected ground zero and nearby villages were already placed on a lockdown and all village officials were ordered to close all barangay streets except for one entrance and one exit where checkpoints will be established.
The mayor added that he had told village officials to tell residents to stay home, maintain social distancing and wear face masks at all times.
“I now call on everybody to pray as one as you stay at home. Only medical emergencies are allowed to enter and leave,” Buyagawan said.
Earlier, tourist destinations in the province were closed by the provincial government of Ifugao, which also imposed strict travel restrictions, banning the entry of any individual.
Neighboring provinces of Mountain Province, Kalinga and Apayao have recorded zero Covid cases since the outbreak.
In Nueva Vizcaya, an elderly patient at the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital (NVPH) was also confirmed to have been infected with the virus on Saturday, or two days after an announcement that Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) may be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ).
Dr. Edwin Galapon of the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Covid-19 Task Force identified the patient, PH7274, as a 72-year-old male from Barangay Calitlitan in Aritao town, the first in the province after about three weeks of not recording any case in the province.
Nueva Vizcaya had five Covid-19 cases with one death,and four recoveries.
Galapon said the patient with no travel history first sought medical attention at the Rural Health Unit in Aritao but was later admitted to the NVPH on April 19.
It was found out that he has a relative who came from Cavite.
Galapon said the patient has been transferred to the Region 2 Trauma and Medical Center in Bayombong .
SOURCE: https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/04/27/news/regions/ifugao-reports-1st-covid-case/719475/
