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GenSan closes borders amid possible Covid-19 local transmission

By Richelyn Gubalani

August 18, 2020, 2:39 pm

<p><strong>LOCKDOWN</strong>. A patrol team of the General Santos City Police Office secures on Tuesday (Aug. 18, 2020) morning the entry point in Hapsay Street, Zone 7 in Barangay Bula after a 62-year-old resident with no travel history tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019. The area was placed under localized lockdown starting Monday night to facilitate the extensive contact tracing and investigation regarding the origin of the infection. (<em>PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani</em>) </p>

LOCKDOWN. A patrol team of the General Santos City Police Office secures on Tuesday (Aug. 18, 2020) morning the entry point in Hapsay Street, Zone 7 in Barangay Bula after a 62-year-old resident with no travel history tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019. The area was placed under localized lockdown starting Monday night to facilitate the extensive contact tracing and investigation regarding the origin of the infection. (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The city government has shut down its borders anew to “non-essential travel” effective Monday night as it moved to contain a possible case of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) local transmission in one of its villages.

City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said Tuesday he ordered the border lockdown to prevent further disease transmission to nearby areas and fast-track the contact-tracing activities for a suspected locally-acquired case in Barangay Bula here.

He was referring to the 62-year-old female resident of Zone 7 in Bula with no travel history who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday through reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing.

“We decided to temporarily lock down our borders and suspend all non-essential travels from outside as a proactive measure,” Rivera told reporters.

He said they adopted the same restrictions as with the initial border lockdown implemented last March, among them the ban on leisure and related travels.

The movement of essential workers and food supplies will remain unhampered and all persons entering the city should be registered for proper contact-tracing, he said.

The mayor said the local government has already coordinated with the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory regarding the impact of the border lockdown on public transportation.

He said the provincial government of South Cotabato and other neighboring localities already agreed to implement the same restrictions as part of coordinated efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Aside from the city, the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, and Cotabato City have already recorded possible local transmission of the disease.

Rivera said the City Health Office (CHO) is currently determining whether the Covid-19 case in Barangay Bula was locally-acquired or transmitted and tracing its possible origin in coordination with the barangay health emergency response teams.

He said they placed a portion of Zone 7 in Bula, specifically the residential community along Hapsay Street, under localized lockdown starting Monday night to facilitate the contact-tracing.

At least 19 persons, all family members and relatives of the Covid-19 patient were already isolated as of Tuesday morning and subjected to contact-tracing up to the fourth level, he said.

“This entails a lot of work for our health workers because some of these individuals have reported to work and visited a number of places in the past week,” Rivera said.

The mayor said the patient is currently admitted in a private hospital and closely monitored by medical personnel.

He said the latter’s immediate family members will be subjected to rapid antibody screening and confirmatory RT-PCR tests.

As of Tuesday morning, CHO already recorded a total of 50 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the city, with 35 recoveries and two related deaths.

Rivera said health experts have not yet declared a local transmission of the disease in the city but noted that “the situation can change depending on the contact-tracing and interview being conducted.”

“For the moment, I appeal to the public to please stay home, maintain proper hygiene, wear your face mask, and practice (safe physical) distancing,” he added. (PNA

 

 

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