Cotabato City – After confirming that 21 persons infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have no known exposure or travel history, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) in Lanao del Sur and Marawi City declared on Sunday the local transmission of the disease in the province.
“The provincial IATF, City and Municipal IATFs with the contact tracing teams are currently exhausting all efforts to identify others who may have come in contact with the confirmed cases to ensure that this localized transmission does not progress to community spread,” read a statement by the provincial government posted on its Facebook page.
The joint statement of the Lanao del Sur and Marawi City on the existence of coronavirus disease local transmission in the province.
“This is a precautionary pronouncement to ensure that our local governments, public and private health providers and all other stakeholders can prepare for a possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases,” the statement added.
The province and the city’s IATF are now intensifying contact tracing and isolation of close contact of the confirmed cases.
“Improved hospital preparedness, enhanced community isolation facilities, intensified severe acute respiratory illness surveillance, and increasing the capacity of our testing laboratory to diagnose Covid-19 are being pursued,” the statement said.
The task force appealed to the public to strictly comply with the minimum health standards and stay at home to contain the spread of the virus.
Unnecessary travel and social or mass gatherings, and complying with the mandatory 14 days isolation will also be monitored by the task force.
As of August 9, Lanao del Sur and Marawi City have recorded a total of 209 cases.
Of the total, 28 are active cases, 175 recovered, and six had died. In the whole of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, there is a total of 496 cases – 113 active, 373 recoveries, and ten deaths.
The BARMM covers the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan; the cities of Marawi, Lamitan, and Cotabato; and the 63 villages in six towns of North Cotabato. (Albashir Saiden)
(Source: Philippine News Agency)