A portion of Purok 5, Zone 10-B in Upper Barangay Carmen is placed under localized containment Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 12) by Cagayan de Oro City Hall following the death of a 73-old female resident who tested positive for COVID-19, the eighth recorded local mortality in the city.

“She has a history of travel from Bukidnon province and suffers from hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Her remains were cremated at 2 pm Tuesday as facilitated by the Management of the Dead Cluster and we already identified 13 persons with close contacts to Case 192 including some hospital workers and five family members,” City Health Office (CHO) resident epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya said in Wednesday noon´s (Aug. 12) press briefing.

All of these contacts were quarantined at the city isolation units and placed under observation while the CHO expanded their contact tracing with assistance from Carmen´s barangay health emergency team, Dr. Retuya said. “We met with Dr. Retuya, City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery and barangay officials to map out the quarantine area last Tuesday,” said Nic Jabagat, acting chief of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department (CDRRMD).

“As per procedure I will ask for information on the area for basis on the executive order I´ll issue to place the site under localized quarantine with concurrence from the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force and informing the City Council on this. Again I will ask for cooperation from the residents to stay at their homes while food aid will be given to them at their households for the duration of the two-week quarantine,” Mayor Oscar Moreno said.

The last recorded local COVID-19 death occurred two weeks ago, Mayor Moreno said. Dr. Retuya also clarified that based on the recent zero prevalence survey that there is no evidence to suggest that there is sustained local community transmission of COVID-19 in Barangay Carmen, the most populous village in Cagayan de Oro City.