THE Talisay City Government in Cebu has started looking for persons who were exposed to the city’s first confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) case.
Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr. ordered the health personnel to conduct contact tracing after the (DOH) 7 informed him on Sunday, March 29, 2020, that a resident of Seaview Heights Subdivision in Barangay Lawaan 2 became the city’s first Covid-19 case.
In Cebu City, the City Health Office in coordination with the Cebu City Police Office also started the contact tracing of those exposed with the confirmed Covid-19) cases in the city.
As of March 29, Cebu City recorded 20 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Of the 20 patients, 16 of them were still confined in hospitals receiving treatment, three died and one patient recovered, according to City Health Officer Daisy Villa.
Villa said on Monday, March 30, that all the identified individuals who have close contacts with the Covid-19 patients, including the fatalities, will have to undergo home quarantine for 14 days.
She did not disclose the areas where the confirmed Covid-19 cases came from.
On treatment
As to the Talisay City patient, the patient is still confined and being treated in a hospital in Cebu City.
“I already spoke to our health personnel who interrogated the patient’s household for investigation. We are trying to determine the patient’s age and those who recently made in contact with the patient just before he became positive for Covid-19,” Gullas told reporters in Cebuano Monday, March 30.
He said that the confirmed Covid-19 case from Talisay City was neither reported nor listed as a person under monitoring or a patient under investigation.
Gullas further said the patient had not shown any symptom before the latter was admitted to the hospital last Wednesday, March 25. The patient also had no history of travel to places where there was Covid-19 outbreak.
The mayor further said they also cordoned off the patient’s house as a precautionary measure to prevent other people from entering the residence and ensure that the residents of the house will remain inside for the 14-day quarantine.
“They are all in quarantine, (including) the maids and the drivers,” he said.
There were persons who admitted meeting the patient in the past weeks were transferred into a facility for quarantine.
Gullas said he decided to mention the subdivision where the patient’s family resides to ensure that their neighbors would recall if they had encounter with the patient and look out if they have symptoms of Covid-19.
The patient’s house was already disinfected the house and a barangay-level disinfection will be conducted after the conclusion of the contact tracing.
Challenges
In Cebu City, Villa said one of her office’s challenges is the monitoring of some individuals who showed symptoms of Covid-19 as some of them defied the authorities.
She said some persons who made contact with Covid-19 patients often insisted to go outside their houses.
Villa also said the cluster clinic the CHO established in Barangay Hipodromo will have to be transfered to Cebu Medical Society in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.
“We stopped the one in Hipodromo because they don’t want one in their barangay,” she said.
The CHO with the help of the DOH 7 established cluster clinics where persons with influenza-like illness can go for consultation.
The establishment of cluster clinics is a strategy of the health agency to detect early signs or symptoms of Covid-19, as well as a way to decongest the hospitals in the city.
As of now, four cluster clinics have been operating which are in Barangays Mabolo, Tinago, Basak San Nicolas, and Sawang Calero. (JCT & JJL )