Two ‘hotspot’ barangays have over 100 COVID-19 cases

Barangays San Juan in Molo district and Rizal Pala-Pala in City Proper district are considered the two “hotspots” of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Iloilo City with over 100 cases detected, according to the City Covid-19 Team.

Jeck Conlu, head of Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) and spokesperson of the City Covid-19 Team, said San Juan, Molo has the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 64.

Rizal Pala-Pala has 37 confirmed cases wherein 32 were detected in Rizal Pala Pala Zone 2 while five were in Rizal Pala-Pala Zone 1.

“In terms of our hotspots in barangays, we identified San Juan in Molo and Rizal Pala Pala 2 as the hotspot areas because nagadamo ang active cases,” he said in a virtual press briefer on Thursday.

Other barangays that saw a surge in cases are Bo. Obrero, Lapuz with 23 cases; Tanza Baybay, City Proper (19); Bolilao, Mandurriao (17); North Baluarte, Molo (16); Pali, Mandurriao (11); and Cuartero in Jaro, and Guzman-Jesena and Bakhaw in Mandurriao with nine confirmed cases each.

Conlu said most of the cases detected in city barangays were traced to the two major hotspots in Iloilo City – call center firm iQor and Iloilo Fishing Port Complex (IFPC).

As of 4 pm Thursday, Conlu said the total registered cases in iQor remain at 149 while IFPC has 167 cases. No additional cases linked to the two areas were recorded yesterday.

Majority of the contacts of the cases in the two establishments have already been traced, according to Conlu.

“Gamay na lang gid ang wala ma-swab sa ila kay majority na ang na-test and na-trace. We are also waiting for the test results sang iban nga mga contacts since the laboratory in Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) temporarily stopped their operations after may nagpositive sa ila,” Conlu said.

 

SURGICAL LOCKDOWNS

Meanwhile, the City Covid-19 Team is also looking at the possibility of lifting surgical lockdowns imposed on the three barangays in Iloilo City.

According to Conlu, surgical lockdowns in Cuartero and Simon Ledesma in Jaro district and Guzman-Jesena in Mandurriao may be lifted once no additional cases are detected.

“Ang iban nga barangay sa syudad posible kuhaon naton ang surgical lockdown particularly sa Cuartero, Simon Ledesma kag Guzman, posible kuhaon kag i-lift naton kon until tonight wala ta may ma-record nga case,” he said.

As of Thursday, Guzman and Cuartero each recorded nine positive cases while Simon Ledesma has six confirmed cases based on the data from the City Health Office (CHO).

Iloilo City logged 60 new additional Covid-19 cases on Thursday, based on Case Bulletin No. 139 released by the Department of Health-Center for Health Development-Western Visayas (DOH-6).

The total Covid-19 cases registered in Iloilo City spiked to 484 with 10 deaths, 90 recoveries, and 384 active cases, the highest in the region so far in terms of the total local cases. (ERS)