Calabarzon cop chief recovers; priest dies of COVID

MANILA, Philippines — Calabarzon police director Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao has recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Danao bared yesterday that he tested positive for the virus on March 21 and was hospitalized for 13 days.

 “I was released from the hospital on April 3 after the results of two consecutive swab tests are negative,” Danao said during the presentation of 16 labor union leaders who surrendered in Laguna.

He said 14 other police officers in Calabarzon were infected and remain confined in various hospitals.

 Meanwhile, a priest in Tagum City, Arnel Celis, died of COVID-19 on Monday.

In a post on Facebook, the Tagum City government appealed to those who had contact with Celis from April 5 to 22 to report to the barangay health emergency response team and go on a 14-day self-quarantine.

Celis, who died before his test result came out, was found positive for the disease on Wednesday.

The city task force on COVID-19 said it was allowed by the family of Celis to identify the priest to expedite contact tracing. Celis was initially described as a resident of Barangay Visayan Village.

Bulacan frontliners

In Bulacan, Jocelyn Gomez of the provincial health office said 17 medical frontliners in the province tested positive for COVID-19.

Gomez said the latest fatality, Marianito Galicia, a doctor at the Roquero Hospital in San Jose del Monte City, died while being treated at the Bulacan Medical Mission Group Hospital in Bocaue.

The Bulacan police office said nine of its personnel are suspected COVID-19 cases and remain under quarantine.

Bulacan recorded four more cases on Thursday. Three of the patients are male, aged 42 and 47 and 39 from Malolos and Sta. Maria, respectively, and a 29-year-old woman from Marilao. Another patient from Sta. Maria has recovered.

The total number of confirmed cases in the province is now 118, with 20 recoveries.

1st case in Sulu

A 63-year-old man who died on April 19 is the first confirmed case in Sulu, according to the local task force on COVID-19.

Health authorities said the patient, a resident of Indanan town, who was confined at the Sulu Sanitarium, had no history of travel.

The Ministry of Health at the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said there are 11 confirmed cases in the region.

In Pangasinan, two patients in Urdaneta City have recovered, bringing the number of recoveries in the province to 26.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Zamboanga City is now 11 after another case was recorded on Thursday.

The patient is a resident of Barangay Sta. Maria, where the highest number of suspected cases in the city was recorded. – Ramon Efren Lazaro, Roel Pareño, Cesar Ramirez, Eva Visperas