THE cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Zamboanga City has increased to 142 as a village frontliner was tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2), the pathogen which causes Covid-19.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, chairperson of the local Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19, said the new case is a 34-year-old female, whose test result was released late Friday, May 22.

Salazar said the patient is among the 44 people from Zone I village subjected earlier to a random rapid diagnostic test.

She said the patient is asymptomatic and has been transferred to the government isolation facility in Cabatangan village, this city.

Contact tracing is ongoing to determine who came into close contact with the female patient, the mayor added.

Nonito Aranas, Zone II village chief, said the patient is a worker at the health center in his village, which also caters to residents of Zone I village.

Aranas said the health worker had even conducted immunization drive in Zone I village after she had undergone rapid test or the GeneXPert test together with 43 other individuals.

Zamboanga City lab is among tuberculosis (TB) labs that use real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kits in GeneXpert machines to diagnose Covid-19. (SunStar Zamboanga)