Returnees from NCR are first COVID-19 cases in 2 Basilan towns

BASILAN, Philippines – Two municipalities in Basilan reported their first confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), identified as individuals who had been stranded in and were returning from Metro Manila.  

A 21-year-old patient, who had a history of travel in Manila, was the first case registered in Tuburan town, while a 23-year-old patient was also the first case registered in Albarka town. 

Basilan Governor Jim Salliman said on Thursday, June 25, that Albarka’s first case had a close contact with one of the councilors of Lamitan City who had tested positive for COVID-19. 

The patient and the council traveled by van from Manila to Zamboanga City and until they reached Basilan.  

The two patients are among the 8 additional cases confirmed in the island province, bringing to 14 the total number of persons with SARS-CoV2 here.  

Salliman said 4 of these 8 cases are natives of Tipo-tipo towns who were stranded in the National Capital Region.  

These 4 had close contact with patient BAS006, a resident of Barangay Matibay in Lamitan City. The wife and child of patient BAS006 also tested positive in the RT-PCR test. 

The governor believes all 8 patients, who are all categorized as locally-stranded individuals (LSI), got COVID-19 in Metro Manila since there was no reported local transmission in the province, except for one patient in Tipo-tipo. 

The one in Tipo-tipo was first case in Basilan. The patient had gone to Zamboanga City for dialysis, and later tested positive when he had returned to Basilan.  

“We have to stay vigilant, although we assure Basilenos that all the patients are confined in different isolation facilities in earlier mentioned towns and all of them are in stable condition,” Salliman said.  

Salliman had been coordinating with the National Inter Agency Task Force, requesting them to temporarily suspend the sending home of LSI. On Thursday, the national government announced it would suspend sending LSI to the provinces until after they had undergone PCR testing. – Rappler.com