The Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) of Toboso, Negros Occidental disinfected its town hall after one of its councilors manifested symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“We disinfected the entire municipal hall,” Mayor Richard Jaojoco said in a telephone interview.
Schools in two villages were also identified for sanitization because the 65-year-old male councilor’s grandchild, who lives with him, attends one of these schools.
Jaojoco said the town official still attended the council’s regular session last Tuesday.
The councilor, who is considered as a person under monitoring (PUM), developed fever two days after arriving from Manila via the Mactan-Cebu Airport, and had been nursing it for more than a week until Thursday. He was brought to a government hospital.
He was among those who attended the Philippine Councilors League’s 11th National Congress held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on February 26-28.
Vice Mayor Jesse Rex Bartolome issued a memorandum advising all councilors of Toboso who attended the PCL assembly to undergo self-quarantine.
Bartolome also suspended the conduct of the regular sessions in the next two weeks or those scheduled on March 17 and 24. The next session will be conducted on March 31. “(This is) to ensure everyone’s safety,” he added.
Moreover, Jaojoco said classes in the town’s daycare centers have been suspended since March 9 as he awaits advice from the Department of Education on the suspension of classes in both elementary and high school.
In his executive order dated March 20, he also prohibited the conduct of assemblies and related events by government units, agencies, and organizations until the Covid-19 situation is declared stable and managed by the authorities. (Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)