DAVAO CITY - A barangay in Nabunturan town in Davao de Oro was placed under localized enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on Sunday, August 2 after a male miner, who had no travel history, tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The localized ECQ took effect on August 2 and will last "until the order be lifted or withdrawn if the circumstances so warrant."
Based on the profile released by the local government unit of Nabunturan, the patient works for a mining company in Barangay Masara. He underwent a rapid test initiated by their company last July 25.
After testing positive, the 59-year-old patient, who resides in Barangay Mainit, went to the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility in Nabunturan where he and his child, who is the only person he lives with at home, were isolated. The age of the child was not specified.
They underwent swab tests on July 28 and the mineworker tested positive, while the child tested negative.
“Mahinumduman na walay kumpirmadong positibong kaso sa Barangay Mainit sukad bago aning atong ika-napulo na pasiyente. Kini ang unang kaso sa maong lugar (It can be recalled that there is no positive case in Barangay Mainit prior to the 10th patient we have recorded. This is the first case in that barangay),” the local government unit of Nabunturan said in a statement on Sunday.
The patient was asymptomatic, and had no history of travel where there are local transmission, the provincial local government unit said.
“Padayong ginasuta sa atong mga medical workers kung asa posibleng nakuha sa pasyente ang sakit (Our medical workers are still verifying where he possibly acquired the disease),” it said.
Mayor Chelita Amatong placed Barangay Mainit in local ECQ following the incident.
Under Executive Order No. 44, the local government of unit of Nabunturan aims to provide enough time for frontliners to perform contract tracing, verification, and containment following the patient’s case.
With the localized ECQ in place, a curfew from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM will be implemented along a 24-hour liquor ban.
Entry and exit points to Barangay Mainit, particularly the Purok 16, Mainit-Tagnocon Road; Purok 14, Mainit-Tagnocon Road; Purok 18, Mainit-Mawab Road; Purok 1, Public Cemetery; and the Mainit-Anislagan Road, shall be closed.
Two other patients from Davao de Oro tested positive on Saturday, August 1. Among them was a male resident of Monkayo town, who was returning overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Saudi Arabia, and the other one was a woman who was stranded in Manila. The woman is a resident of Pantukan town.
Based on the COVID-19 Regional Case Bulletin of the Davao Center for Health Development, as of August 1, Davao de Oro province currently has 69 active cases out of the total accumulated cases of 103. The province has also recorded 33 recoveries and one death.