Bataan capitol suspends office work after 2 employees test positive for COVID-19

The provincial government here suspended on Thursday, July 30, all office transactions in the capitol to immediately disinfect the building after two employees tested positive of SARS-CoV-2.

Bataan Governor Albert Garcia ordered the suspension of work, and called for the sanitation and disinfection of Bunker Building and all other offices and structures in the Capitol Compound.

Garcia said that the swift action was part of the effort of the provincial government to stamp out the growing number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the province and to protect the employees as well.

“We need to make sure that the public servants of the province are safe against the virus so that they continue to implement the programs of the government and provide the basic public services to the residents,” he said.

Meanwhile, provincial health officers conducted contact tracing among all the persons who had close contact with the employees. Those identified will undergo reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests (RT-PCR).

The provincial employees were among the 16 individuals who tested positive of the coronavirus after attending a religious gathering last Sunday, July 19. They are now counted among the 29 new COVID-19 cases in Bataan as confirmed by the laboratory tests released last Tuesday, July 28.

The Provincial Health Office said the confirmed infections here have reached 344, with 95 still under medical treatment, 238 recovered and 11 died.

As this develop, Garcia appealed to everyone in Bataan to stay at home as much as possible and follow the health protocols, including the wearing of face masks and observing social distancing. – Rappler.com