By Tara Yap
ILOILO CITY—Since midnight of June 30, the town of Alimodian in Iloilo province was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) after 13 residents were found infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The plaza of Alimodian town in Iloilo province. (Tara Yap/File/Manila Bulletin)
“This is not a lockdown,” Mayor Geefre Alonsabe clarified.
The Western Visayas regional office of the Department of Health (DOH-6) confirmed that five of the 13 new recorded cases were health workers.
Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, chief of DOH-6’s Infectious Disease Section, said the nurse, medical technologist and three midwives have been taking care of a 22-year-old female, a locally stranded individual (LSI) who went back to the town and earlier tested positive for COVID-19.
The 22-year-old also infected eight other people, including a three-year-old child, who became the youngest COVID-19 case in Iloilo province.
All of Alimodian’s 13 COVID-19 cases were asymptomatic, and all were taken to an isolation facility.
It remains unclear how long the ECQ status will last in Alimodian.
“It depends on the recommendation of the DOH,” Alonsabe told Manila Bulletin.
Meanwhile, the Alimodian local government has issued quarantine passes for local residents, who need to go out for necessary transactions.
But Alonsabe urged local residents to stay home as much as possible in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19.