Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 8) — General Santos City is no longer coronavirus-free after confirming its first case of COVID-19.
The Department of Health in the Soccsksargen region said a 59-year-old man who had traveled to Davao City had contracted the disease. Twenty people are being treated for coronavirus infection in Davao City.
In its official Facebook page, the local government of General Santos City said the patient attended a derby at New Davao Matina Gallera. He was able to return to General Santos City prior to the imposition of travel restrictions.
“Rest assured that this person is already confined in one of our private hospitals here in Gensan. We also did the necessary contact tracing with all the people he interacted with. We are heavily monitoring these individuals,” the local government said.
General Santos City is under enhanced community quarantine – similar to the one imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte in Luzon – restricting people’s movement to contain the spread of COVID-19. It also imposes a total lockdown every Sunday, wherein even those with home quarantine passes are not allowed to leave their homes except for emergency or medical reasons.
As of Tuesday, seven patients under investigation are admitted in General Santos City while four are under home quarantine. Earlier, eight people tested negative for coronavirus infection while the results of 10 others are still pending.
Natiownide, the number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 3,764. Of this number, 177 have died while 84 have recovered.
