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MANILA, Philippine – A member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) became “TWT001,” the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Tawi-Tawi.
In a situation report released on Sunday, July 5, the Tawi-Tawi Inter-Agency Task Force said the patient is a 44-year-old locally stranded individual (LSI) who traveled from San Isidro, Quezon City to Zamboanga City to Basilan, then went back to Zamboanga City and finally, Tawi-Tawi.
He arrived in Bongao Port on June 30. The patient, who did not show any symptoms, is now isolated.
The Tawi-Tawi IATF report did not say why and how the patient was able to travel to 4 areas, and went back and forth to Zamboanga City.
On Monday, July 6, the Tawi-Tawi IATF issued an advisory saying that as contact tracing is being done and some quarantine facilities are on lockdown, the province has decided to:
- temporarily suspend the entry of LSIs and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) from Zamboanga City and other nearby provinces;
- revoke and declare void certificates of prior coordination, entry permit, and acceptance letter from IATF; and
- suspend ferrying of passengers to and from Bongao, except for local essential services.
Tawi-Tawi IATF’s point person, Mobon Nuruddin Gampal, also urged everyone to stay at home and follow health protocols.
Tawi-Tawi is among the provinces in the country that managed to keep themselves COVID-19 free for at least 5 months, since the Philippines’ first reported case was announced in late January.
(READ: Over 20 provinces have zero coronavirus cases as of April 30 – tracker)
Other provinces and local government units that recently recorded their first coronavirus cases include Masbate and the Mountain Province.
Meanwhile, a newborn in Lamitan City was found to have COVID-19. Her mother has also tested positive for the coronavirus. It was reported that the baby had a “close contact” with a 67-year-old LSI who arrived in Lamitan from Zamboanga City on June 6.
On Sunday, July 5, a record 2,434 new cases were added to the number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines.
This brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 44,254 as of 4 pm on Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
The DOH said that 1,297 have died from the respiratory illness while nearly 12,000 have recovered. – Rappler.com
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