THE Municipality of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental recorded its first confirmed case of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Monday, July 20.
The new confirmed case is a 42-year-old female locally stranded individual (LSI) from Cebu City and a resident of Barangay Mapua in Balingoan.
The woman arrived at the Laguindingan Airport on July 1. She was transferred to the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) gymnasium at 4 p.m. and stayed overnight at the Marianne Suites.
On July 2, an ambulance from the local government unit of Balingoan transferred the patient to Mapua Barangay Isolation Facility. Upon arrival, she went through a rapid diagnostic test and the result came out negative.
A second test was conducted on July 9 and the result is still negative. Prior to her discharge on July 16, she was tested for the third time and the result was positive.
According to the local government unit of Baligoan, the test was repeated using the IgG and IgM rapid test and the result was the same.
The 42-year-old woman was swabbed on July 17 and the result came out positive on July 20.
At present, the woman is asymptomatic and remained at the Barangay Isolation Unit for another 14-day quarantine period.
The patient's niece is her close contact who was with her at the Cebu Mactan International Airport for 11 days from June 20 to July 1.
The local government unit of Balingoan reminded the public to always observe the minimum health standards such as frequent handwashing, wearing of face masks, and social/physical distancing.