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Coronavirus cases in Nueva Ecija climb to 110

By Marilyn Galang

July 15, 2020, 6:14 pm

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – The spike in confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in this province continues as two new cases were recorded by the Nueva Ecija Inter-Agency Task Force (NEIATF).

The new cases that include an airport police personnel, raised to 110 the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the province as of Tuesday.

The 48-year-old airport police personnel, tagged as Nueva Ecija's Patient 109,  is a resident of Barangay Maligaya, Rizal, who went home to the province from Metro Manila on July 3 and returned to the National Capital Region on July 6.

He later suffered cough and cold with fever, prompting him to undergo swabbing on July 11.

He is now on strict home quarantine in Parañaque City, the NEIATF said.

Patient 110, on the other hand, is a 45-year-old resident of Kapitan Pepe Subdivision, Barangay Kapitan Pepe here. He had no travel history other than going to the city's public market some two weeks ago.

He reportedly had contact with Patient 85, an employee of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) whose mother and two other relatives also tested positive of Covid-19.

Asymptomatic, Patient 110 is under home quarantine, the task force said.

These cases also raised to 38 the number of active cases logged in the province as 68 have already recovered and four died.

Governor Aurelio Umali, who is also the head of the NEIATF, reminded Novo Ecijanos to strictly observe the health and security protocols to contain the spread of the dreaded disease.

Meanwhile, Umali said on Tuesday that the Cabanatuan City Inter-Agency Task Force, led by Mayor Myca Elizabeth Vergara, has requested to revert to the general community quarantine the status of this city amid the rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The governor said they have endorsed the request to the national IATF which should make the final decision in accordance with the process.

“We support the decision of the city government to move Cabanatuan City from MGCQ to GCQ. We have already formally endorsed the long request to revert Cabanatuan to GCQ because we’ve seen the rise of local transmission in the city,” he added.

Umali noted that population-wise, the city is the biggest in the province.

“Siya po ay sentro ng mga komersiyo (It is the center of commerce). People from different municipalities buy their necessities here. At ang mga ospital ay andito (And some hospitals are here),” he said.

In balancing the economy and people’s safety, the latter should be given more weight, Umali said.

Reports from the Cabanatuan Information and Tourism Office showed that from 27 cases on July 8, the city now has 40 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which 21 have recovered, eight are admitted in hospitals, and 11 on strict home quarantine.

The city has no recorded death.

The city government is now distributing packs of groceries for its sixth round of food assistance to some 126,000 households here.

Vice Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said the city can still distribute rice from its stocks presently stored in a facility.  (PNA)

 

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