BACOLOD CITY – Seven soldiers from Cebu who returned to Negros Oriental two weeks ago tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
This was confirmed on Saturday by Maj. Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (ID).
Pancito said that the seven soldiers were among the 40 military troops of the 32nd Division Reconnaissance Company (DRC) under the 302nd Infantry Brigade (IBde), who were earlier sent to Cebu to augment with the other government forces in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pancito said that the augmentation troops were assigned at the quarantine control points there, making them more exposed to the public.
Pancito said that the troops arrived in the province on June 23 on board a Navy vessel and were immediately brought to a quarantine facility.
He added that these soldiers did not interact with other people when they arrived in the province. However, seven of them manifested symptoms a few days later while in quarantine.
He said that swab tests were done on the seven symptomatic soldiers and the results came out on Friday, indicating that they were positive for the virus.
He said that the 33 other soldiers, who were believed to be asymptomatic, also underwent swab tests and they are still waiting for the results.
The Provincial Health Office was tasked to monitor them, he added.
He said that those people who were with the soldiers on the vessel were already informed and will also be subjected to swab test.
He said that the military troops returned in the province as augmentation force for the 302nd IBde in their anti-insurgency efforts. (Glazyl Masculino)