The COVID-19 Emergency Operations Center has suspended its operation for 24 hours starting yesterday.
In an interview with Davao City Disaster Radio on Saturday, Mayor Sara Duterte revealed that the suspension was due to a government employee who had a direct contact with a patient who tested positive for COVID-19.
She said the said patient is currently admitted at Southern Philippines Medical Center.
“Its symptoms manifested late. I think it took 11 to 12 days before he manifested symptoms. On March 10, the positive patient and the contact had a face-to-face meeting,” she said.
Since the symptoms of the patient manifested late, the employee also interacted with a lot of government employees.
“Many have been exposed. Its (employee) direct contacts should be isolated immediately,” she said.
The City Information Office on Friday also released a statement saying that the center will be moving to a new location due to the possible contamination of the current venue.
“We deeply apologize for the inconvenience. We shall resume operations in the soonest possible time,” the statement reads.
Duterte also said the new center will also have new staff to ensure that the contacts of the said employee will undergo quarantine.
Due to this incident, the city government has decided to implement a work-from-home system to disinfect the place and ensure that no further exposure from suspected cases will occur.
