By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Department of Tourism-Region 6 (DOT-6) Officer-in-Charge Cristine Mansinares confirmed that she was one of 3 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the regional office, pushing the total cases in their office to 16.DOT-6 on Sunday, June 18, 2021, issued a public advisory via Facebook announcing the temporary closure of its office at the Casa Real in Iloilo City “until further notice” without stating the reason.
On Tuesday, July 20, the regional office released another advisory on its FB page announcing that 12 personnel tested positive for COVID-19, who are all either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.
The regional office then held a conference call on Wednesday, July 22, where Mansinares confirmed the new cases in their office.
The rest of the cases were confirmed on July 18 and 19 (2 cases), then on July 20 (10 cases), and on Wednesday (1 case).
The confirmed cases are tagged to Guimaras, Iloilo City, and Iloilo province, while Mansinares is tagged as a case from Bacolod City.
The office is still awaiting 2 other personnel to undergo swab testing. They are part of the 34 persons who have been contact-traced, excluding the first 2 confirmed cases.
Mansinares said she had already informed Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. of the new developments, expressing fears that these may be cases of a foreign-born variant.
She added that Treñas had suggested that their samples be sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang or the Philippine Genome Center in Quezon City for determination of variants.
Tracing of the cases’ close contacts are also being conducted by their respective local government units.
Other personnel are either working from home or under quarantine, and all transactions are through either email or phone call, while the office has remained closed.
“It is so alarming that we have 3 added [COVID] cases to our results, including me. As of now our total cases with the DOT-6 has reached 16 (sic). I have updated Treñas and Defensor on these cases, because due to the number of positive cases, these may be a strong variant infecting us,” said Mansinares.
She also said that their cases were “complicated”, citing their 30 percent maximum capacity at the office. One of the cases tested positive despite not in close contact with the first 2 cases.
“Our daily duty height is at 30 percent at the office every day, and the rest are working from home, so our cases are a bit complicated because one of our positive cases did not have close contact with our first two cases. He wasn’t able to meet with them, but he is here in our list. He went to the office only on Friday and got tested last Monday,” she explained.
Meanwhile, operations in the DOT-6’s Boracay Field Office remain uninterrupted, according to Mansinares.
