19 prisoners, jail personnel test positive for Covid-19 in Zambo

ZAMBOANGA CITY – More than a dozen prisoners and a jail guard were tested positive for the deadly novel coronavirus diseases (Covid-19) in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, the local government announced late Friday.

It said the latest addition to Covid-19 cases is now 30. The spread of the respiratory virus at the local jail broke out after 2 prisoners died one after the other in hospital just recently. Both patients suffered from tuberculosis and pneumonia and were positive carrier of the virus.

Health authorities are still waiting for the laboratory results of 100 others who underwent mass testing conducted by the City Health Office at the jail facility following the deaths of the prisoners.

Mayor Beng Climaco, who heads the local task force Covid-19, fears that more prisoners have been infected with the virus. She said those found positive for the disease have been separated from the others and now under quarantine.

She said health authorities are monitoring over 400 suspected Covid-19 cases after 11 people tested positive for the disease died since March.

Zamboanga City - which has nearly one million population in all 98 villages - remains under a strict enhanced community quarantine following the approval by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases of Climaco’s request to extend the regulation until May 15 in an effort to address the health pandemic.

Climaco reminded residents to practice physical distancing and maintain cleanliness at all time. (Zamboanga Post)

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