Antipolo public market on lockdown

MANILA, Philippines  — The Antipolo City public market has been placed on lockdown after 18 vendors tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Antipolo Mayor Andrea Ynares said the lockdown, which started on Tuesday, would be in effect for two weeks.

The patients have been quarantined in various isolation facilities since June 25. Contact tracing is ongoing.

Nearly 800 tenants of the public market underwent swab tests.

“If their condition turns worse, the local government will shoulder their hospitalization if they’re not a member of PhilHealth,” Ynares said.

The city’s infection prevention and control team disinfected the public market yesterday.

Ynares urged stall owners to have their tenants and employees tested for COVID-19.

She said the city government would implement a barangay coding scheme starting today to ensure that only residents from specific villages would be allowed in wet markets.

The city health office has so far conducted 15,000 COVID-19 tests, using both rapid and confirmatory tests.

Antipolo has recorded 24 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to  305. It recorded 33 deaths and 158 recoveries.

13 Mandaue cops infected

Meanwhile, in Cebu province, 13 police officers in Mandaue City tested positive for COVID-19.

Col. Jonathan Abella, Mandaue police chief, said most of the infected police officers were deployed at checkpoints in Cebu City.

Abella said four of the patients are from Station 5, which had been earlier placed on lockdown after an inmate was found infected with the virus.

He said disinfection of police stations are being conducted on a regular basis.

New cases

In Bataan, 23 new cases  were recorded yesterday, bringing the total number of infections in the province to 212.

The number of confirmed cases in Cagayan Valley rose to 87, with nine new cases recorded on Tuesday.

Authorities said five of the new cases in the region are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who returned to their hometowns in Alicia, Aurora, Echague and Cauayan City in Isabela.

Four are locally stranded individuals from San Mariano, Quezon and Ilagan City, also in Isabela, and Amulung in Cagayan.

A police officer assigned in Baguio City is the latest case in La Trinidad, Benguet.

In Apayao, Gov. Eleanor Bulut-Begtang ordered the mayors of Flora and Kabugao towns to declare a lockdown in villages where two residents were found positive for COVID-19.

Basilan recorded its 19th case, a returning OFW.

Umingan town in Pangasinan reported its second case. The province now has 103 cases.

COVID-free

Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte are again free of the virus after their remaining patients recovered.

The two provinces had only four cases each since March.

In Cotabato City, Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said their remaining patient was discharged from an isolation facility on Tuesday.

Cotabato City had only 15 cases since March.  Raymund Catindig, John Unson, Roel Pareño, Ric Sapnu, Cesar Ramirez, Iris Hazel Mascardo/The Freeman