A health official on Tuesday said that the local government units of Tagbilaran City and Calape were able to trace a total of 26 “close contacts” of the two residents of both localities who tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID) 2019 last week.

Sixteen were traced to have been in contact with a COVID-19-positive Tagbilaran City resident while 10 were determined to have been in contact with a Calape resident who was also infected with the disease, said Dr. Yul Lopez, the Capitol’s spokesperson on COVID-19-related matters.

Lopez described close contacts as those who were with a COVID-19-positive patient within a specific timeframe—from two days before the patient’s symptoms appear until the patient tests negative for the disease or passes away.

Those who were with the patient for at least 15 minutes while located one meter or less from the patient may also be considered as close contacts.

“They were considered close contacts because they were with the patient two days before the start of his symptoms, face-to-face, less than one meter away and more than 15 minutes duration,” Lopez said.

“Kinahanglan ato ning e-distinguish ang close contact ug low-risk ocntacts lang na layo kaayo,” he added.

All of the 26 close contacts were noted to have not shown any symptoms of the highly contagious disease after their contact with the patients.

According to Lopez, all 26 individuals deemed close contacts of both Calape and Tagbilaran residents were subjected polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests but results were still awaited.

The 16 close contacts in Tagbilaran City also underwent rapid antibody tests and they all showed no signs of a viral infection.

Meanwhile, the city’s LGU facilitated the PCR testing of over 170 other contacts of the patient including her neighbors in Purok 2, Barangay Dao in Tagbilaran City; some employees of government offices she visited and nurses and other health personnel at the barangay level and at the ACE Medical Center where she has been confined for almost two weeks.

The two latest COVID-19 cases in Bohol included a 65-year-old woman from Tagbilaran City who is confined at the ACE Medical Center and 89-year-old man from Calape who died at the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital on May 26.

Both their PCR test results were released on the same day, June 4.