40 individuals who sustained close contact with a 63-year old, male Norwegian national who visited Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte and tested positive for COVID-19 in Manila are already identified and isolated while waiting for the rapid testing to be conducted.
HISTORY:
March 2, 2020- arrived in the city and rented a beach house at Brgy. Sicayab, wherein partner lives in Brgy. Minaog, Dipolog City
April 26, 2020- foreigner was admitted in a private hospital in Dipolog City due to chest pains (diagnosis: acute coronary syndrome)
May 2, 2020- airlifted to Manila at around 8:00am for additional tests (angioplasty)
May 3, 2020- 6:00pm, undergone a swab test as protocol before any medical procedure
May 4, 2020- test resulted POSITIVE for COVID-19
During the press conference held on the evening of May 4, with Provincial Health Officer Dr. Esmeralda Nadela, Dipolog City Mayor Darel Dexter Uy and other IATF-Covid19 Zamboanga del Norte Officers, that the traced contacts will undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine in a provided isolation area and a rapid testing will be conducted as soon as the rapid test kits arrive the next day.
The private hospital where the foreign patient was first admitted will be disinfected while medical staff who attended the patient will also undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine. Other patients from this hospital have already been transferred to other medical facilities in the city.
Checkpoint tents will now be put up in the 2 barangays Sicayab, where the foreigner rented a beach house and its neighboring Barangay Minaog, where the patient’s partner lives to restrict movements of its residents.
PHO cannot yet determine its possible transmission based on the period of the patient’s stay in Dipolog and the negative test results of the previous specimens submitted for testing from recorded PUIs in Dipolog City and the whole province of Zamboanga del Norte.
Officials gave assurance that the whole task force is doing the best they can to control the possible spread of COVID19 in the area if ever traced contacts resulted positive.
Patient 01 as tagged by Task Force Covid19 Zamboanga del Norte is still at St. Luke’s Hospital under isolation and treatment.
Mayor Uy of Dipolog asks the public to stop bashing and end the discrimination against the individuals involved especially the foreign patient, but rather follow protocols and EO guidelines issued by the LGU to ensure public safety against Covid19 pandemic.