BACOLOD CITY - Close to 1,000 households in Toboso town and Cadiz City, Negros Occidental were placed under lockdown due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
In Toboso town, the local Inter-Agency Task Force placed on a seven-day lockdown a total of 700 households in Barangay Bug-ang after eight residents tested positive for COVID-19.
Mayor Richard Jaojoco said that a worker from the Department of Education (DepEd) was the first to be infected, followed by her husband, two children and her mother through contact tracing.
Another contact tracing on April 6 also yielded three of her relatives and another close contact positive results, the mayor added.
“We are still for the results of more than 20,” Jaojoco said.
The mayor said the one week lockdown was imposed to effectively conduct contact tracing as residents in the area refuse to submit themselves to swab tests and there is denial that they have contact with someone who is positive with COVID-19.
Jaojoco said that affected households were already provided with essential needs.
Only one member of each household will be issued an essential pass, based on the IATF resolution.
He also said that there are two positive cases at the Mayor's Office, prompting him to undergo a swab test on April 4, but his results yielded negative.
Meanwhile, Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., said that 250 families were also affected of the zonal lockdown at Villa Barbas 2 Purok Mainuswagon, Barangay Zone 2, Cadiz City, after 10 COVID cases were reported on April 5.
Escalante said the measure imposed is to prevent the local transmission of the virus.
A member of every affected household will be subjected to a swab test, he added.