FIRST CASE. The town hall of Jipapad, Eastern Samar. The town documented its first coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection on Thursday (July 15, 2021). (Photo courtesy of Jipapad local government)
TACLOBAN CITY - The remote town of Jipapad, Eastern Samar documented its first coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection on Thursday.
The patient contracted the virus outside of their town, Rona Mariblanca, municipal health officer, said in a text message on Friday.
She said the first confirmed case is a 31-year-old female who takes care of her husband currently admitted at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban City.
However, Mariblanca did not disclose the health condition of the husband to protect the patient’s privacy.
An investigation is being conducted as to where the woman got the infection since the husband was first hospitalized in Eastern Samar before being transferred to EVRMC.
“The first Covid-19 patient is still admitted at the EVRMC. We are now conducting contact tracing to identify the possible close contacts of the patient in our town,” Mariblanca added.
Although already connected to the national road, the town is still considered as one of the remotest areas in the region, which is frequently hit by flooding.
The town is in the northeastern part of the province near the border of Eastern Samar to Northern Samar province, accessible through the national highway from Arteche town in Eastern Samar and Lapinig town in Northern Samar.
With Jipapad recording its first Covid-19 case, the disease is now present in all 136 towns and seven cities in the region.
As of July 15, the region has recorded 33,188 confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 31,296 recoveries, and 409 deaths. There are still 1,483 active cases in the region. (PNA)
