CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PNA) – The local government of Valencia City in Bukidnon has ordered the temporary closure of a shopping mall after one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and infected 18 co-workers, an official said Tuesday.
Valencia Vice Mayor Dr. Paul Murillo, head of the city’s incident command center, said the infected employee contracted the virus from her husband, who got it following a wedding at a hotel where he was working on October 18.
As of November 9, Valencia has 233 individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, with 188 recoveries, 43 active cases, and two deaths.
Murillo said all the active cases were locally-transmitted, adding that the infections at the shopping mall have significantly contributed to the rise in the number of local COVID-19 cases.
The mall has about 500 employees, more than half of whom were believed to have come in contact with the infected co-worker. Murillo said all of them have been subjected to COVID-19 testing.
Murillo said the mall workers, who were found to be positive, were all asymptomatic, and were already at the city’s isolation facilities.
A directive issued by Valencia Mayor Azucena Huervas earlier said the mall would remain closed “until further notice”.
Huervas also enforced a zoning containment strategy within the mall area.
The city government has also declared a 500-meter radius around the mall as the “containment zone” where any movement would be limited to accessing essential goods and services.