Board member negative for COVID-19

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said Thursday that the provincial board member who underwent swab test the other day after his former driver was infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was negative of the virus.

The board member, whose identity is being withheld, underwent testing for the “peace of mind” of the employees and other officials of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Ferrer has earlier said that the driver did not set foot in the provincial capitol since February when he was fired from his job.

The swab test of the board member was aimed to assuage other SP members and staff who were advised to stay put in their respective stations Wednesday afternoon but were eventually allowed to go home.

The 32-year-old former driver and resident of Barangay Bata here is Bacolod City’s 18^th COVID-19 case.

He underwent swab test at the Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital last June 5 after showing symptoms of the disease. The result came out Tuesday.

The driver is stable and under strict quarantine.

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that there was no physical contact between the board member and his former driver.

Lacson said the driver, who asked his employer to re-hire him, communicated through telephone.

The virus cannot be transmitted through telephone, he said.