Tarangnan, Samar were tested on Wednesday for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) after three of their co-workers were found positive for the infection.
These health workers are employed by the rural health unit and community hospital. The Department of Health (DOH) asked them to monitor their health status, stay at home, and strictly isolate themselves if they manifest symptoms related to Covid-19 while waiting for the test result.
Both health facilities have temporarily stopped its regular operation after the DOH announced on Monday that the region’s 6th Covid-19 positive is a 60-year-old woman, a kitchen staff of Tarangnan Community Hospital, the workplace of the region’s 3rd and 4th infected persons.
The three patients reportedly had contacts with other health workers assigned in the town.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Tarangnan Mayor Arnel Tan asked residents with health concerns to get hold of rural health midwives and nurses deployed by DOH in their respective communities.
“We have no idea on the specific date on the re-opening these health facilities. I still have to talk to the governor,” Tan said. The town’s community hospital is supervised by the Samar provincial government.
The news of local transmission has rocked the town of Tarangnan, a fourth-class town in Samar province with a population of 25,000 in 41 villages. The town is located 129 kilometers north of Tacloban City, the regional capital of Eastern Visayas.
It was on April 7 that the health department confirmed that a nurse and an administrative staff of Tarangnan Community Hospital were positive for Covid-19 after catching the virus from a patient in nearby Calbayog City, the region’s second infected person.
Their respective villages were placed under total lockdown for 15 days until Tuesday. The village of the town’s third Covid-19 patient also faced the same fate since Monday afternoon.
The first two patients were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday and are now undergoing strict home isolation for 14 days.
“Those who recovered and their family members are not allowed to leave their homes. The local government has been providing their essential needs,” Tan said.
Since the health crisis, Samar has already recorded four cases of Covid-19 -- one from Calbayog City and three from Tarangnan town. Three of them have recovered.
The region’s 5th case is from Burauen town, the first positive case in Leyte province. She has been recovering at EVRMC.
The first confirmed Covid-19 patient in Eastern Visayas is from Catarman, Northern Samar. She has already recovered and completed the 14-day home isolation after confinement. (PNA)
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