THE Southern Mindanao Medical Center has cleared 17 family members and other close contacts of the 21-year-old road accident victim from Barangay Lumbia who tested positive for Covid-19 before he died in a hospital.
Dr. Teofulfo Joselito Retuya announced on Friday the results of the tests on the 17 people in time for the end of their quarantine period. He said the family members, friends and other close contacts of the deceased patient were already sent home.
The announcement came just a few days after 76 doctors, nurses and other health workers at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), and two members of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (CDRRMD) tested negative for Covid-19. All of them were tested and quarantined after contact tracers identified them as among those who may have been exposed to the patient from Lumbia.
Dr. Retuya said another group, composed of six family members of a deceased 61-year-old patient from Barangay Carmen, also tested negative for Covid-19.
Three others are still in an isolation unit of the city government pending results of the swab tests. None of them showed symptoms of the disease, according to Retuya.
Mayor Oscar Moreno said he and other local officials were happy with the recent test results but added that Cagayan de Oro residents should continue observing "new normal" rules like wearing of face masks, physical distancing, hand-washing, and the use of barangay exit passes.
The recent negative test results do not mean there is no longer a Covid-19 threat, Mayor Moreno said. (Abigail Malalis, CIO)
