How Baguio jail got its 1st coronavirus case

BAGUIO, Philippines – At the start of its modified general community quarantine, Baguio suddenly reported two new coronavirus cases on Monday, June 1, bringing to 4 its total active cases. 

One is a 28-year-old store manager who tested positive upon arrival after staying in La Union and Pangasinan during the city lockdown. 

But the story of how the other Baguio resident tested positive was more compelling. 

Bernardo Agbuya, 25, was having a drinking spree with friends in Sitio Apugan in Barangay Poliwes on the evening of May 28, despite a citywide liquor ban. 

Agbuya and his brother had an alcohol-induced fistfight and their father tried to pacify them. 

Instead, the brothers mauled their father. 

According to a report by Police Captain Roger Kurt Pacificar, the father was seriously injured and brought to the hospital. 

Meanwhile, the Agbuya brothers remain unruly while in custody and one of them punched a police officer. 

They were slapped charges of direct assault with resistance and disobedience to persons in authority, and violation of the liquor ban.

It is city policy to test all incoming detainees, and Bernard tested positive for the coronavirus. He was asymptomatic.

Barangay Poliwes was likewise put into lockdown. 

Ailene Doria, 28, of City Camp Central, came out in the open to help in the city’s contact tracing program. 

Doria returned to Baguio last March 28 to resume her job as a store manager here. 

Instead, she tested positive for the coronavirus. 

When Baguio was put into lockdown two months ago, she said she went home to Binmaley, Pangasinan.

On May 26, she stayed in their company’s boarding house in San Fernando City, La Union, and then went up last May 28. 

Doria said she complied with the Returning Baguio Residents and Workers process and underwent triage at the St. Vincent gym upon arrival. 

At the triage, she underwent diagnostic x-ray which showed that she had suspicious pneumonia, prompting triage doctors to let her undergo a swab or the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

As of Monday, the Philippines has 18,638 coronavirus cases, with 960 deaths and 3,979 recoveries. – Rappler.com