BONTOC, Mt.Province – Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey has informed his “kakailyan (townmates)” that he has tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In his message in the municipality’s social media account, Odsey said: “It is (with a) heavy heart that I inform you of the positive result of my RT-PCR (real time-polymerase chain reaction) test which I received today, January 15.”
“I am asymptomatic and my doctors are closely monitoring my situation, while I am in isolation. The members of my households, as well as my staff, are on self-quarantine, They will be subjected to RT-PCR tests (in) the next few days,” Odsey said.
Odsey make this announcement to call the attention of all persons he had close contact with in the past 14 days to coordinate the Municipal Health Office for contact tracing, and to go on self-quarantine.
Due to a surge in the incidence of the virus, Odsey issued Executive Order on Friday temporarily suspending the conduct of religious masses, and eucharistic celebrations for all religious denominations; the conduct of face to face classes, examinations, seminars or symposia, including government-sponsored activities and the like.
Odsey also suspended the solemnization of civil weddings in the municipality effective on Monday, January 18.
He also issued an executive order, placing the Barangay Samoki under critical zone, and imposing an enhance community quarantine (ECQ) starting January 18 to 31,2021.
On Thursday, Mountain Province logged the highest number of new cases at 84, with 57 coming from Bontoc,15 in Sabangan, five in Sagada, four in Sadanga, two in Bauko, and one in Paracelis.
The province records 26 new cases on Friday with 383 awaiting results of their swab tests.
The Provincial Health Office of Mountain Province said that the contributory factors to the upsurge of cases were family gatherings, drinking sprees, inconsistent and improper use of Personal Protective Equipment and non-adherence to quarantine and isolation protocols.