La Union reports daily record of 17 new coronavirus cases

The province of La Union recorded 17 new coronavirus cases on July 16 alone.

Governor Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III said that 8 cases came from Caba town, while the capital city of San Fernando had 5 cases. The towns of Aringay, Balaoan, Bauang, and San Juan reported one case each.

This is the most number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the province in a day.

Ortega said that the mayors of these towns already initiated contact tracing and lockdown in the barangays where the 17 cases are located.

San Fernando City said that all 5 cases are asymptomatic. The patients – 4 of them women – come from Barangays Sevilla, Poro, Catbangen, Dalumpinas Oeste, and Langcuas. Mayor Alfredo Pablo Ortega placed these barangays under a 72-hour lockdown.

Caba Mayor Philip Caesar Crispino, who himself was the first COVID-19 case in his town, did not specify the barangays of the 8 confirmed cases but said that 6 of them are female and most are in their 20s. He also said that 7 are asymptomatic while one is manifesting mild symptoms. All are admitted at the La Union Medical Center in Agoo.

The patient from Bauang is a 40-year-old woman from Barangay Central East with no travel history. Last July 14, a judge at the Regional Trial Court Branch 28 also tested positive in Bauang, which caused all prosecutors in La Union to undergo swabbing.

In San Juan, a 30-year-old male from Barangay Ili Norte also tested positive. He is a medical frontliner at the Ilocos Regional Training and Medical Center.

The case from Aringay is a 14-year-old boy from Pangaoaoan West who is said to be asthmatic.

As of Friday, July 17, the Philippines recorded 63,001 cases, including 1,660 deaths, and 21,748 recoveries. – Rappler.com