COVID-19 CHECK. Local health workers collect swab samples from locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who returned to Maasin City in Southern Leyte in this June 14, 2020 photo. The city government on Friday (July 10, 2020) said returning residents, including LSIs and overseas Filipino workers, who remained asymptomatic after 21-days of isolation in quarantine facilities will be discharged. (Photo courtesy of Jonas Maco)
TACLOBAN CITY – Returning residents of Maasin City in Southern Leyte who remained asymptomatic after 21-days of isolation in quarantine facilities will be discharged despite pending test results for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“If they test positive for Covid-19, they may be declared clinically recovered based on the evaluation conducted and provided that they remain asymptomatic (for 21 days). Further, there is no need to repeat the swab test prior to discharge, thus tagging them as recovered,” Mayor Nacional Mercado said in a statement on Friday.
On the other hand, those with negative results before the end of the mandatory 14-day quarantine must stay in the designated facilities to complete the prescribed isolation period.
As mandated, all returnees in Maasin, including locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), must undergo the swab testing within seven days upon their arrival.
“However, the increasing number of suspect, probable, and confirmed cases in the region also entails subsequent increase in the demand for testing, causing overwhelming delays in the release of results at the only referral testing center in the region that caters to all,” Mercado said.
The state-run Eastern Visayas Regional Covid-19 testing center here has been receiving volumes of samples from various local government units since early June due to arrivals of LSIs and OFWs, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
“With the health and safety of all Maasin residents in mind, I am appealing for the public’s utmost consideration of our current situation, law observance is best and is now our weapon of defense against Covid-19,” Mercado said.
“Rest assured that we will do everything we can to safeguard our right to health, safety, and security, and make sure that the appropriate attention is being given to matters of high importance,” he added.
Since the outbreak in the country, the city has confirmed a total of seven Covid-19 cases, all LSIs, based on the DOH monitoring report.
Meanwhile, Eastern Visayas has confirmed a total of 614 cases, including 498 recoveries and three deaths from Leyte, Biliran, and Samar. (PNA)
