DepEd Zambales employees infect relatives; village on lockdown

A 12-day lockdown was placed in Barangay Batonlapoc in Botolan town, Zambales starting Wednesday, March 24, as health officials detected an outbreak of COVID-19 cases among the employees of the of the Department of Education (DepEd) and their families in the area.

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Mayor Doris Maniquiz of Botolan said, in a statement on Tuesday, that the infections in the barangay, which used to be virus-free, were traced from five DepEd employees and has caused a local transmission.

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There were 16 villagers that got infected through the DepEd employees who contracted the virus after attending a seminar earlier this month. Most of the infected were their relatives.

Maniquiz added that only those who need to seek medical attention would be allowed to leave the village and the local government would provide food packs to 443 families who are now stuck in their homes.

The five infected DepEd employees were amongst the 300 participants who attended the two seminars organized by the association of school principals in the province earlier this month.