The Provincial Treasurer’s Office (PTO) of Negros Oriental was shut down after at least 10 personnel tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Capitol Public Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor told media practitioners that, so far, 10 personnel of the PTO were diagnosed with the disease.
While the PTO is on “preventive lockdown” since Monday afternoon, other parts of the provincial Capitol continued with their operations, he said.
Gov. Roel Degamo met with Assistant Provincial Health officer, Dr. Liland Estacion, Provincial Treasurer Jessie Garsula-Dagdayan, and Provincial Administrator Edmund Dy to discuss the status of the treasurer’s office.
“While non-infected or less contact personnel are advised to work (from) home, the head is under instruction to have all personnel undergo swab testing as a requirement for (them to) return to work,” he said.
A memorandum from the provincial administrator will be issued requiring all PTO personnel to undergo swab test, he added.
The infected personnel of the PTO had close contact with positive cases, but Miraflor did not elaborate.
The PTO shall remain close until further notice, he said.
“Consequently, it has a setback on the financial transactions of the province,” Miraflor said.
However, after the release of negative results and disinfection of the office, the personnel will be allowed to return to work after seven days, he said.
Miraflor said that during the meeting with the governor, Capitol employees will continue to receive their salaries even if the PTO is still under preventive lockdown.
SIATON TOWN HALL CLOSED, TOO
Mayor Cezanne Fritz Diaz of Siaton, Negros Oriental , meanwhile, yesterday ordered the temporary closure of the municipal hall for disinfection.
This after a male medical health worker, who tested positive for Covid-19, transacted in one of the offices there recently.
A public health advisory signed by the mayor, who chairs the municipal Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said the medical front-liner of the Cong. Lamberto Macias Memorial Hospital visited the town hall on Dec. 28, and on Jan. 5.
As a preventive measure, the town hall was closed for thorough disinfection to prevent the spread of the virus.
All municipal employees of Siaton, excluding those in the Rural Health Unit and the Tabang Center, are advised to undergo home quarantine until further notice and receipt of swab test results of direct contacts of the male health worker.
The mayor also called on those who had contact with the Covid-19 front-liner to cooperate with health authorities, undergo self-quarantine, and seek medical attention at the onset of symptoms.
On Tuesday, Negros Oriental reported 47 new cases, with 32 from Dumaguete City, Sibulan – 5, Siaton – 4, San Jose – 2, and Guihulngan City, Bacong, Tanjay City, and Zamboanguita with one case each.
Degamo instructed the Provincial IATF-EID to assist Dumaguete in handling the Covid-19 infections. Estacion, health committee chair of the PIATF, in a press briefing, noted that the Covid-19 positive cases in the city started to rise in early November and surged even more after the holidays.*PNA
