Contact tracing for COVID-infected health worker starts

By Felipe V. Celino 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The Provincial Health Office of Capiz and Roxas City Health Office have started tracing the close contacts of a 33-year-old male health worker from Capiz who contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Health authorities said they are awaiting the results of the swab tests of 57 employees of the PHO and the Department of Health (DOH)-Capiz.

Ayr Altavas, PHO-Capiz Health Education and Promotion Officer, said the employees of the two offices were immediately tested to determine if they were also infected by SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19.

Altavas said the health workers will also undergo 14-day quarantine in an isolation facility.

They are investigating how the sixth COVID-19 patient in the province was infected.

Meanwhile, Altavas corrected reports that the patient got infected after transporting swab specimen to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City.

He said the patient has no history of travel to Iloilo or in other parts of Western Visayas nor history of contact with positive cases.

The Roxas City government also conducted contact tracing of the colleagues and family of the latest COVID-19 patient. So far, 10 persons tested negative in the rapid diagnostic.

The 10 individuals with direct contact to the patient are under home/facility quarantine while awaiting the results of their RT-PCR tests.