Cuyo town mayor Mark Delos Reyes chided his “political bashers” after an alleged breach in protocol was reported that resulted in this town’s first case of local transmission.
Delos Reyes dared his political rivals to vote him out on the next elections after allegations of failure in his administration’s COVID-19 response.
“Kung hindi niyo pa matanggap hanggang ngayon na hindi nanalo ang manok niyo, puwes hintayin niyo ang susunod na election,” Delos Reyes said.
Delos Reyes claimed that certain government officials withheld information about a certain COVID-19 positive patient who arrived in the island municipality on August 31.
“Ngayon ay pinaiimbestigahan ko na kung sino ang may kasalanan na hindi nagsabi sa akin na si Mr. Gumban ay naging reactive sa IgG pagdating niya dito sa Cuyo noong August 31. Pero sa ngayon, ang aking priority ay kung paano natin maagapan ang local transmission para hindi na madagdagan ang maaapektuhan ng virus na ito,” Delos Reyes said in a statement aired on Facebook
This subsequently led to the town being reverted to general community quarantine (GCQ) starting Friday (September 25) until October 8 to give way for the contact tracing being undertaken.
“Magbibigay din ang ating mga kapitan ng quarantine pass, isa lang para sa kada household. Hanggang nasa GCQ tayo, diretso ang ating contact tracing, at may mga schedule na rin tayo ng rapid test sa ating mga kababayan na may contact sa nag-positive at sa namatay, pati na rin sa kanyang asawa,” Delos Reyes added.
The COVID-19 positive patient, who was only brought to the town’s isolation facility recently, was said to have roamed around Cuyo and even visited the local public market. In response to the emerging situation, the operations of Cuyo Public Market was suspended starting Friday (September 25) until September 28 for scheduled disinfection and contact tracing.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fi Atencio, medical officer from the City Health Office (CHO), in a press briefing aired live on Facebook on Thursday afternoon, said that the city’s recent case involved a 45-year-old male who came from Cuyo.
The patient, who arrived on September 21 aboard Montenegro Shipping Lines, has yielded to at least 92 close contacts.
The city officials have yet to confirm if the patient was directly linked to the Cuyo’s local transmission case.
“For now wala pa, that should be identified by the municipality of Cuyo as far as I know. Informed na din naman sila, so we are assuming na nagco-contact trace na sila doon,” Dr. Atencio clarified in a text message to Palawan News.
The Palawan province has recorded a total of 310 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 95 active patients, 211 recoveries, and four casualties.
(With a report from Loren Jane A. Tumalac)
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