The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has returned to the Municipality of Pateros in Metro Manila, its mayor announced on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Pateros enjoyed being coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-free for weeks but Mayor Miguel “Ike” Ponce III said the municipal government has recorded one new case and that several people are under quarantine.
“While we experienced zero COVID for three weeks in our town, yesterday we have one new case and we are monitoring several people who underwent swabbing and are close contacts whom we fear may turn out to be positive,” said the mayor during a live broadcast on Facebook.
He said the Department of Health reported on Dec. 27 that there was a slight increase in the number of new cases in the country and in the National Capital Region (NCR) in December.
The positivity rate, he said, in the country before December was only 0.08 but yesterday it jumped to 1.6. Of the 433 new cases recorded by the DOH, half of these are in the NCR, he added.
Ponce reminded the public that the fight against COVID-19 especially with the presence of the Omicron variant is not over. The Philippines has recorded four cases of the Omicron variant from incoming travelers.
“It is not far-fetched that this will spread and we fear that we may have a surge when January comes, and we experience difficulty, return to imposing lockdowns, and impose stricter policies to implement health standards,” he said.
Isolation facilities in Pateros have remained vacant for quite some time but on Dec. 27, Ponce said, the municipal government is monitoring close contacts who are staying there.
He reminded his constituents to still observe minimum public health standards like wearing face masks and physical distancing as the nation prepares to welcome the new year.
“Be careful. We do not want to go back to the time when we fetch patients and conduct contact tracing. It is up to us on how to be safe,” said Ponce.