By Felipe V. Celino
ROXAS CITY, Capiz — A portion of the barangay or village where a medical frontliner of Mambusao District Hospital (MDH) resides and another village in Sapian, Capiz were placed under lockdown due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Based on Executive Order No. 10 issued by Sapian Mayor Arthur John Biñas on April 29, 2021, some of the houses in the two villages have been cordoned and residents were not allowed to go out from their houses without clearance from the Municipal Health Office.
The granular lockdown affected two households in Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Dapdapan; one household in a portion of Tugbungan Purok Maki-angayon, Barangay Poblacion; another residence in Purok Malinong, Barangay Poblacion; and the Gallardo compound in Barangay Poblacion.
The Gallardo compound is the home of Sangguniang Bayan (SB) member Jonathan Gallardo whose wife, a medical technologist of MDH, tested positive for COVID-19.
Biñas directed the residents to immediately report to their respective Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTS), Barangay Council or Sapian MHO all close contacts of confirmed, probable, or suspected cases.
Under the executive order, members of the Sapian PNP, Philippine Army, BPAT, Sapian Security Force, barangay officials and BHERTS have been mandated to monitor the movement of residents in the said areas.
Gallardo earlier denied fleeing his wife from the hospital. He clarified that he had no intention to “evacuate” his wife who is a medical technologist of Mambusao District Hospital.
He said that all he wanted was to give proper care and attention to his wife by transferring her to a private hospital in Iloilo City.
Gallardo has noticed that medical frontliners in RMPH were already tired because of the high number of COVID-19 patients being confined and treated daily.
The councilor said he tried to talk with Dr. Ian Arciga, MDH acting chief, but decided to leave and bring his wife home after 30 minutes of waiting for the hospital chief to meet him.
Gallardo assured and guaranteed his constituents and neighbors in Sapian town that the virus will not spread because since their arrival from the hospital, they never go out from their house and all the members of the family stayed inside.
He thanked some of their friends who brought food items to their house and their nurse-daughter in the United States of America who taught them how to manage her mother’s condition.
If his wife still has the virus in the next swab test, Gallardo said they will prolong their stay in their house.
