A village in Tubigon closed its borders on Wednesday after one of its residents was tagged as a “probable” coronavirus disease (COVID) 19 patient.
According to Barangay Pinayagan Norte Captain Ester Loresto, she implemented a one-entry, one-exit policy and barred the entry of non-residents into the village as precautionary measure while authorities find out if one of its residents, a 17-year-old girl, is indeed infected with the highly contagious disease.
“Sa main road ra jud mi magpaagi og taw, kadtong mga suok na agianan na mo connect sa laing barangay amo tong gi-close,” said Loresto.
On Tuesday, the Ramiro Community Hospital in Tagbilaran City confirmed that it was handling a “probable” COVID-19 patient, who was later found out to be a girl from Barangay Pinayagan Norte.
According to Tubigon Municpal Health Officer Dr. Bob Batausa, the girl was admitted at the hospital after undergoing appendectomy.
Batausa said that the girl was subjected to a rapid COVID-19 test prior to the operation as protocol. She then tested positive prompting health authorities to conduct another rapid antibody test which still yielded a positive result.
“Gikuhaan nila’g ikaduha para siguro, pagka-ikaduha positive gihapon,” the health officer said.
The hospital and the provincial government however still considered her a probable case, not a confirmed case, pending the results of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Dr. Yul Lopez, the Capitol’s spokesperson on COVID 19-related issues, said on Wednesday that swab samples have been taken from the patient for PCR testing in Cebu City.
A PCR test is considered as “gold-standard” in COVID-19 testing.
According to Lopez, they were almost done with contract-tracing of persons who were in recent contact with the girl.
Contact tracing
Meanwhile, Batausa said that although the girl has no travel history even domestically, her 22-year-old brother who she lived with in Tubigon was identified to be a seaman-in-training who arrived in the province from international travel in October last year and had been frequently travelling to Cebu since then until March 13.
According to Batausa, the patient only lived with two people, her two brothers and grandmother who were both asymptomatic.
Other than the family, health authorities also included in their contact-tracing the brother’s girlfriend, a Garcia Hernandez resident, who stayed at the family’s house from May 13 to May 18.
The province’s only active confirmed COVID-19 case is an OFW who arrived in Bohol on April 27 and was transported from the Tagbilaran City port to the Crabhouse hotel in the city for quarantine.
According to Batausa, they have already coordinated with the Garcia Hernandez Municipal Health Office asking them to monitor the girl.
Garcia Hernandez health authorities in turn also conducted contact-tracing. (A. Doydora)