All Calasiao barangay captains to undergo quarantine after one goes positive

The barangay chiefs are tested during a muncipal meeting they attended. One tests positive in the rapid test.

PANGASINAN, Philippines – Calasiao mayor Joseph Arman Bauzon on Friday, May 29, ordered all the barangay captains of their town to be quarantined for 14 days after one of them tested positive for COVID-19 in mass rapid testing of village heads.

The barangay chairmen were tested during a meeting called by the Municipal Local Government Operations Officer (MLGOO) on Thursday, May 28.

Bauzon said in an interview over local television Friday that because one of those present in the meeting tested positive for the coronavirus, everyone would have to be quarantined. The mayor did not name the barangay captain who tested positive.

Bauzon said he also ordered a rapid test for the barangay at the Rural Health Unit and the results were negative.

As part of the protocol, the barangay chair who yielded a positive result in the rapid test was told to take the Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Test. His swab specimen will be submitted to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center for final confirmation.

Bauzon said though Dr Jesus Arturo de Vera, municipal health officer, certified that the barangay captain did not have the symptoms of COVID-19 disease, he was placed in isolation at the town's quarantine facility and under strict monitoring by local health officials.

Aside from all the barangay chairmen who attended the meeting, the mayor said those who mingled with them were placed under 14-day qurantines.

He said the building where the meeting was disinfected. – Rappler.com