TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – There are now three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province of Cagayan, and Ramon Nolasco Sr., a former congressman is the latest to test positive.
In a press conference, the Cagayan Valley Center for Health Development officer-in-charge Leticia Cabrera announced that there are two new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cagayan.
They are PH661, a 39-year old male from Tuao, and PH662, a 70-year old male from Gattaran, Cagayan. Both of them are currently under quarantine.
PH662 is Ramon Nolasco Sr., a former congressman in the first district of Cagayan and is the father of the current lawmaker Ramon Nolasco Jr. who was unopposed during the last election.
Nolasco Sr. disclosed his condition publicly in an interview at a local radio station in Tuguegarao City this morning.
Last March 18, he sought medical treatment at Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) and was advised to go home and undergo strict home quarantine while waiting for the result of his swab test to see if he has the virus.
PH661 on the other hand is from Tuao, Cagayan who went to Manila to fetch his wife who was an Overseas Filipino Worker in Hong Kong.
Both of them boarded Florida Bus No. GD73 going to Tuguegarao on March 14 and arrived the next day where they took a jeepney ride to their hometown and finally riding a tricycle to their house.
According to Glenn Baggao, CVMC Medical Chief, PH661 had a cough and sore throat on March 17, and sought help at a health unit office at their hometown in Tuao.
His case was then coordinated to the Provincial Health Office and the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit, who tapped CVMC to transfer PH661 to their hospital.
He was then quarantined at CVMC where his swab was taken and sent to Manila for confirmatory test.
On March 25, the results came back and confirmed that both PH661 and Nolasco Sr. had indeed contracted the virus.
As of now, PH661 is still confined in an isolation room at CVMC, while Nolasco Sr., PH662 is also still under home quarantine.
According to Baggao, PH661 has been admitted for eight days and is on a stable condition.
“Walang nakakabit na suwero sakanya, malakas siya, sarap na sarap kumain sabi nung mga nurses, kaso meron siyang Diabetes, pero kontrolado naman”, said Baggao.
PH661’s wife is under mandatory home quarantine monitored by local health officials.
