LAOAG CITY – The city recorded its first confirmed case of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In an interview on Saturday, Mayor Michael Keon confirmed that male personnel of the Philippine Air Force based at the Laoag International Aiport (LIA) tested positive for Covid-19 infection.
“I was informed last night by (City Health Officer) Dr. (Joseph) Adaya that there is now one Covid-19 patient in Laoag. This person is an Air Force personnel who is assigned in the province. He is not an Ilokano and not from here. He is from Manila,” said Keon, adding the patient is asymptomatic and he is isolated inside their barracks at the LIA compound.
The patient traveled to Metro Manila and arrived in Laoag last June 26.
As the Air Force person is an instructor in disaster management and was planning to travel to Baguio City for a seminar-workshop, he, along with two companions, underwent rapid testing last July 13 and was found positive for Covid-19.
On July 15, he underwent swab testing and the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center and also tested positive for the disease.
Village chief Ruben Sampayan in Barangay Araniw, where the Laoag airport is situated, said a temporary lockdown must be implemented as a precautionary measure. (PNA)
