THE Kabankalan City Hall was placed on lockdown effective 1 p.m. Friday, November 20, 2020, after seven employees of the City Engineers Office (CEO) tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Kabankalan City Mayor Pedro Zayco Jr. said he will also submit himself to a swab test together with employees of the City Assessor's Office and City Mayor's Office.

Zayco said he plans to require all city employees to also be tested for the coronavirus.

Work will resume on Monday after the City Hall will be disinfected.

Zayco added that the wearing of face masks and face shields will be strictly enforced at all government buildings starting next week.

City Administrator Sixto Garaygay earlier said the seven employees had close contacts with the assistant city engineer, who died the previous weekend due to complications from Covid-19.

Six of those who got infected by the virus were from the CEO and one from the City Assessors Office, Garaygay said.

The swab results of the seven employees were released Thursday, November 17.

Garaygay said the two offices were placed under lockdown and transactions were redirected to the City Hall lobby where a table has been set up for the staff.

The Public Service Employment Office was also locked down after the officer-in-charge was traced as a close contact of one of those who tested positive for the virus.

The Kabankalan City Government is pushing for a five-day duty and five-day off work schedule for all city government employees starting next week until everyone is tested and the situation is normalized.

He said this is allowed under the new guidelines of the Civil Service Commission.

Dr. Fernando Fernandez, city health officer, said while most of the new cases were asymptomatic, they were immediately moved to the isolation facility of the city.

Their immediate family members were also alerted and advised to undergo swab testing.

Local contact tracers from CHO are also looking for other employees who had transactions with the CEO last week.