DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Provincial officials of Lanao del Sur announced that 21 recent Covid-19 cases were locally transmitted.
In their recent statement last Sunday, the Lanao del Sur and Marawi Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease said upon verification and contact tracing, they found that these 21 patients have no known exposure or recent travel history outside of the province for the past 30 days.
Lanao del Sur, which has a population of 1,045,000 based on the 2015 census, had a surge of Covid-19 cases recorded on the first week of August with 183 cases.
Among these recent cases, the youngest is a 3-year-old male, and the oldest is a 63-year-old female.
The task force, comprised of Provincial Health Officer Dr. Alinandir Minalang as IATF Deputy Chair and Marawi City Health Officer Dr, Ali Dalidig, said they have intensified their contact tracing and isolation of patients and their close contacts.
“The Provincial, 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. All identified close contacts are strictly isolated and placed on quarantine in accordance with established protocols and guidelines,” the task force said.
They also assured the public that they had improved health facilities and increased testing laboratories in the province to improve the local Covid-19 response.
Government work inside the Provincial Capital Complex has also been temporarily suspended “for thorough disinfection of the entire area”, following the declaration of local transmission of COVID-19.
“This is a precautionary pronouncement to ensure that our local governments, public and private health care providers and all other stakeholders can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases,” they said.
As of August 9, the task force reported it is handling 28 active COVID-19 cases, 175 recoveries, and six deaths (davaotoday.com)
