GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Two municipal mayors in South Cotabato province have tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) but both are in “good condition”.
Lake Sebu Mayor Floro Gandam and Tampakan Mayor Leonard Escobillo separately confirmed their status on Tuesday, noting that they are under isolation and being monitored by health care workers.
In an advisory, Gandam informed his constituents that he has contracted Covid-19 but asymptomatic as he did not manifest any symptoms such as cough and fever.
He urged residents to continually follow the health protocols and just stay home if they have no important public transaction.
“Let us stay safe and stay home for our families. Let’s help each other to contain the further spread of Covid-19,” the mayor said.
On the other hand, Escobillo said he has been under isolation after turning out positive of the disease along with an office staff last June 11.
He said his condition has improved in the past several days after experiencing fever and difficulty in breathing.
“I decided to forego hospital admission since my condition is still manageable. But our health office is regularly monitoring my situation and I have been taking some medicine,” he said in an interview over radio station Bombo Radyo.
The mayor, who is a registered nurse, said his wife and three children are currently undergoing quarantine at their home and already swabbed on Monday for Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing.
He said all persons who have had contact with him were already traced and also being monitored by health personnel.
The municipal government, through Executive Order No. 6 issued by Escobillo, placed eight of its barangays under modified enhanced community quarantine effective Tuesday due to the rising Covid-19 cases.
These are Barangays Lambayong, Liberty, Danlag, Kipalbig, Maltana, Pulabato, Poblacion, and San Isidro.
Lake Sebu and Tampakan are among the municipalities in South Cotabato that recorded spikes in Covid-19 cases in the past several days.
As of Monday night, Lake Sebu has 71 active cases while Tampakan logged 86. The two recorded 20 and 26 new infections, respectively, on Monday.
South Cotabato, which is under general community quarantine until the end of the month, has a total of 1,344 active infections, the highest in Region 12 (Soccksargen).
The confirmed cases in the province since last year have reached a total of 5,379, with 124 related deaths and 3,911 recoveries
Source: Philippines News Agency
