20 NEGROS FISHERMEN FOUND COVID- POSITIVE

BACOLOD CITY: Twenty of the 164 fishermen in Negros Oriental who were under quarantine at a government-designated patient care center (PCC) tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), according to the Provincial Health Office. Dr. Liland Estacion, assistant provincial health officer, on Monday said of the 20 fishermen, seven are residents of Negros Oriental, two were from Cebu province, three from La Libertad, two from Tanjay City, two from Bindoy, and one each from Sibulan, Ayungon, Santander and Samboan. Estacion bared that the fishermen had been aboard the Philip DR that arrived in Negros Oriental from Palawan on May 17. A dead fisherman onboard was removed on the same day under suspicion of Covid-19 and was cremated immediately. Estacion said there was no local transmission among the new patients because they contracted the disease on the ship, not in the province. There will be no need for contact-tracing, as authorities have confined the 20 fishermen at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City, she added. Their fellow fishermen are under isolation at the Covid-19 ward of the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City. The ship captain of the stricken vessel had been diagnosed as a Covid-19 patient and died in Manila, Estacion said. A third fisherman, a checker, died on April 12 but not because of the virus, while the one from Sibulan died on May 12 but was never tested for Covid-19. Estacion belied reports that a fisherman had escaped. Aside from the 164 fishermen staying in this capital city, seven others were also under quarantine at their hometown of San Jose. Estacion said while the fishermen were scheduled to end their 14-day mandatory quarantine on June 5, their stay at the PCC might have to be extended depending on test results. She disclosed that 24 of the 164 fishermen had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and other illnesses and were receiving treatment.