16 Covid-19 deaths in Baguio; 32 more PNP trainees infected

BAGUIO CITY – This summer resort registered a total of 1,222 confirmed cases due to Covid-19, 585 active, 621 recoveries and 16 deaths as of Oct. 5.

    This, as another32 police trainees tested positive for Covid-19 increasing number of infected aspiring cops to 65 on Oct. 3.
Mayor Benjie Magalong said the trainees and the 33 others detected positive of the disease as of Sept. 28, have been staying in their barracks in Lower Lourdes Subdivision.

    Of 65 new cases, 60 were contacts of current cases, four were target tested, one was symptomatic and one tested for travel purposes.

    Aside from the cop trainees, there were also 22 recoveries and two fatalities on Oct. 3.

    The first fatality was a 34-year old female, who was admitted on Sept. 30, and confirmed Covid-positive on Oct. 1, and died on the same day. She had multiple illnesses, including heart disease, hypothyroidism and obstructive sleep apnea.

    The second was a 68-year old female, who was admitted for coughs Sept. 21, confirmed positive on Sept. 22, and expired on October 2. She had hypertension and diabetes. 

    Magalong said the city remained in control of the Covid-19 situation despite sharp increase in the number of cases the past ten days.

    “I can say that we are okay and even better off because we are aware of our situation and we know what is happening on the ground. We know where our cases are coming from because most of them resulted from expanded testing and contact tracing. Random cases were few and are being tracked immediately. We are in the right direction,” the mayor said.

    He said the city still had high testing rate and contact tracing efficiency ratio, and is focused on managing the situation through all control measures pursuant to the PDITR (Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Reintegrate) strategies embodied in the National Action Plan 2.

    This as the City Health Service Office (CHSO) reported that, of the new cases, 28 had exposure to confirmed cases of the coronavirus, seven had symptoms, one was detected due to expanded testing, and another was found positive as a requirement for travel.

    CHSO also said there were 18 patients, who recovered from the deadly disease on Oct. 4with a total of 1,145 confirmed cases, 546 active, 583 recoveries, and 16 deaths.

    City Epidemiologist Donnabel Tubera said early consultation meant early detection and early administration of treatment, translating to lower risk of mortality.

    Covid-19 cases tally in the city shot up by 77 new cases on Monday after outbreaks were reported in two more barangays.

    The CHSO said the new outbreaks were detected areas in Barangays City Camp Central and Dominican-Mirador through contact tracing of 69 infected persons, who were exposed to persons found positive for the virus.

    CHSO said the outbreaks have continued, but have also been contained within these areas only.

    Magalong also said there was a marked increase in cases in two puroks in Barangay City Camp Central, and one purok in Dominican-Mirador.

    These areas have been put on hard lockdown beginning last week and ended Oct. 10.

    Magalong said more tests will be done in these areas with another 120 contact tracers scheduled to be deployed in the next two days.

    He said the newly hired 176 contact tracers hired by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will help in tracing contacts of previous positive on Covid-19, especially in the outbreak areas.

    The 176 new contact tracers immediately began their work after they took their oath at the city hall grounds on Oct. 5.

    Of the rest of new cases, six were symptomatic, one through expanded testing and one was tested as a travel requirement.

    There were also 33 minors, the youngest a four-month-old male, and eight were senior citizens.

    There were also 38 recoveries recorded on Monday.