By Jean Fernando Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez warned residents infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to cooperate with health authorities and follow quarantine protocols or be evicted from their homes and transported to private hospitals. Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Olivarez expressed frustration over reports that several persons from Barangay San Dionisio who are infected with COVID-19 went to a popular mall during the third day of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) and violated several health protocols. Presently, San Dionisio has the highest incidence of COVID-19 with 53 cases, while Barangay San Antonio posted 51 cases and Barangay Baclaran, 28 cases. The three barangays are considered areas of “immediate concern” on the account of the high incidence of COVID-19 cases. “Once a COVID patient is brought to a private hospital outside of the city, his relatives will shoulder the medical expenses and not the city government,” said Olivarez, pointing out that the COVID cases in Paranaque are increasing everyday “dahil maraming pasaway” (there are many who willfully ignore the restrictions). In his latest social media account, Olivarez reported that the city has recorded 42 fatalities, 293 recoveries and 92 patients were discharged last weekend. The city recorded 601 COVID-19 cases on May 13, then 624 cases on May 14, 635 cases on May 15 and 648 cases last May 18. A total of 3,011 have been traced for having been in close contact with infected persons. Dr. Darius Sebastian, chief of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU), reported that 39 persons infected with COVID-19 in Barangay San Antonio and another 35 COVID patients in Barangay San Dionisio needs to be isolated or brought to the hospital as soon as possible. “Our mission this week is to isolate these 74 persons afflicted with coronavirus to remove them in their respective barangay and transfer them to the city’s isolation facilities to prevent the spread of the virus,” Sebastian said. He said that it is not only the two barangays that are under immediate concern by the city government but also the more than 100 families who also need immediate health attention after they were traced as being COVID-19 positive by the city health office. City health officials learned that residents of these two barangays left their house and went to the nearby mall disregarding social distancing and health protocols. He disclosed at least 24 persons infected with coronavirus, including six members of a family from Barangay Baclaran, have already been transferred to different isolation facilities and private hospital outside of the city. Only four COVID positive patients have not been transferred to any facility. According to Sebastian, he will be forced to recommend to Olivarez and the city inert-agency task force to place at least eight out 16 barangays under strict community lockdown if residents will not comply with health standards and quarantine protocols. The COVID recoveries during the past 10 days has reached 50 percent while the number of fatalities for one week remains at 40, the first time since the pandemic started in March, according to Sebastian.