Mayor negative for COVID-19

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, his family, and other close contacts tested negative for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

They underwent RT-PCR testing Sunday after Treñas was exposed to a positive case last week.

“My PCR results came out negative. But as advised by my doctor I will finish my quarantine until Friday. Just to make sure that I am no longer infectious before I start going back to work. To those who were required to have their tests taken, it is because you may have close contacts with positive cases. Our quarantine will make sure that we will be no longer infectious to our loved ones, family and friends. Thank you for all your prayers. God is good,” he said via Facebook on Monday.

Treñas announced Tuesday last week that he will undergo 14-day quarantine after being exposed to two to three persons who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to the mayor, he was unaware that some visitors who entered his office on Tuesday morning were subjected to confirmatory testing, which yielded positive results.

Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, focal person of the City Covid-19 team, confirmed that two authorized persons outside residence (APORs) who came from Metro Manila tested positive for COVID-19.

The two APORs visited the City Mayor’s Office to turn over a set of donations to the city government.

It was learned that the two COVID cases were officials of AC Energy Philippines, the owner of the power barge which exploded and caused an oil spill in Iloilo City on July 3.

Fortuna said the mayor had exposure to the positive cases in less than 15 minutes, but he was wearing a face mask.

Contact tracing has been initiated by the City Covid-19 team to identify persons who might have exposure to the confirmed cases.

Treñas later threatened to sue the AC Energy official for allegedly breaching quarantine protocols

Based on information from City Hall sources, two members of the AC Energy/Ayala team tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, but only one was present at the turnover.

According to the City Health Office (CHO), they were not informed that the persons were subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

Supposedly, the health department has reminded that persons who have been subjected to RT-PCR test must be in quarantine until they receive a negative RT-PCR result.

The infected persons underwent RT-PCR testing but were allowed to go around instead of being quarantined since they were authorized persons outside residence or APORs.