DepEd employee in Bicol contracts COVID-19, office on lockdown

On Friday, December 18, the office of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Bicol was on lockdown after one of its employees tested positive for Covid-19. 

The infected male official just came from another region and was about to go home for the holidays. As a travel requirement, he underwent a swab test, which then came out positive on Thursday. He was asymptomatic and had no travel history from other regions, except a recent trip to Naga City, Camarines Sur, for an official visit. 

DepEd chief, Gilbert Sadsad said that it would run for some days until the 32 employees who had contacted the positive employee had their swab test results. 

The lockdown will stay until further notice and depending on the outcome of the test result… while waiting for the result to come out, within two to three days, we would be quarantined at our dormitory,

Sadsad said. 

He said those with a positive result but are asymptomatic would be brought for processing to the Legazpi City isolation facility for a 14-day mandatory quarantine, while those with symptoms would be brought to the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital Isolation facility for observation and treatment. 

Pray for us that the outcome of our swab test would be negative so that we could go home and join our respective families in celebrating Christmas,

he said. 

While the regional office is on lockdown, DepEd operation and transaction would continue as regional employees not included in the contact tracing were instructed to work from home, while others would report for work on a skeletal basis. 

Meanwhile, DepEd operation and transaction would still continue despite the lockdown of the regional office as employees not included in the contact tracing were instructed to work from home, while others would report for work on a skeletal basis. 

As of Thursday, Department of Health Bicol recorded 387 active cases in the region.