By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Iloilo Provincial Health Office (PHO) chief Dr. Patricia Grace Trabado revealed on Wednesday that several cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) traced to an Iloilo City-based call center are residents of Iloilo province.
Trabado urged employees of business processes outsourcing (BPO) firm iQor, especially those who tested positive for COVID-19, to respond to calls from health authorities who are in the middle of contact tracing efforts.
The Iloilo City Government on Tuesday reported that 131 personnel of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company iQor in Mandurriao district tested positive for COVID-19.
In an interview with Radyo Pilipinas, Dr. Trabado said that 57 of these 131 cases were from the province of Iloilo, specifically in the towns of Pavia (9 cases), Oton (5), Miagao (5), Tigbauan (5), Dingle (4) Pototan (3), Sta. Barbara (4), San Joaquin (3), San Miguel (3), Calinog (2), Dumangas (2), Leon (2), Ajuy (1), Badiangan (1), Banate (1), Cabatuan (1), Janiuay (1), Lambunao (1), Leganes (1), New Lucena (1), Passi City (1), and San Dionisio (1).
Trabado said that the local government units (LGUs) have been informed of the new cases in their area.
She also called on the patients to anticipate calls from the provincial government and the LGUs because it may have important information for them.
“The LGUs have been informed and the patients are being sought now because they have the contact numbers. We are asking for the agents not to drop off the calls, because there is a possibility that these are important calls in which they may even be informed that they may have positive results if they don’t know it yet. They should answer because these are health workers calling because if they have been exposed to a positive case they would be easily located and isolated,” Dr. Trabado said.
She also reminded the workers to remain in quarantine after testing as some may have gone around and may have even gone home.
“When they undergo swabbing, they shouldn’t go around because they will be placed under quarantine until the results come out. When they show negative results, it would be okay [to go around], but when they’re positive, isolation must be continued until such time they don’t show symptoms or they’ve completed the 14-day isolation period. What happened so far, results haven’t come out but they’ve gone around, so some of them went back to their hometowns,” she said.
The PHO chief is worried, saying that people who have been exposed to positive cases may infect their family if they choose to go home to their barangays.
“The point here is to prevent transmission. If they hide in their homes or in their barangays, who will be the first to be affected? Their family. That is why we are asking them, because it is not our fault if we get sick because this is a virus and there is a huge possibility of infection. But the important thing is that we stop the spread so our own families will be protected,” she said.
Dr. Trabado said that it is important for all patients to be informed of their status so that they would be eager to cooperate and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their community.
“If the 100 percent of these 57 were informed and cooperated, we could prevent transmission. If only 50 percent were informed, even with just one case with five companions in their home, we can see the possible spread because they came from the workplace and they went home to their local residences. That is what we’re really asking, even if you’re a Locally-Stranded Individual, to cooperate so we can avoid transmission to vulnerable persons in our communities, especially the elderly and those with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, cancer, and those who are immunocompromised. All of us have a role to play,” Dr. Trabado said.
The PHO and LGUs have also been actively conducting contact tracing with the positive cases and indirect contacts down to the barangay level.
