The local government unit of Talibon on Thursday placed its Rural Health Unit (RHU) under lockdown after one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Mayor Janette Garcia said that the town’s RHU will be closed indefinitely as contact-tracing efforts were launched.

“Ato sa na gi pasira or lockdown ang tibuok departamento sa RHU aron ma disinfect ug aron ma swab ang tanang trabahante na naka close contact sa ilang kauban na nagpositibo,” she said.

Garcia believed that the RHU employee may have been exposed to the virus as part of her work with the town’s contact-tracing team.

The RHU employee was among the 10 residents of the town who were confirmed on Wednesday to have been infected with the highly contagious disease.

Meanwhile, the local chief executive called on locally stranded individuals of the town to temporarily postpone their homecoming due to the lack of manpower to facilitate their quarantine.

“Nanghanyo mi sa atong mga kaigsuonang LSI na sa pagkakaron medyo ato sang ikanselar ug idelatar gamay ang inyong pagpapauli tungod kay kuwang na ta sa manpower na mo lihok ug mag-atiman ninjo sa inyong pagpauli,” she said.

Garcia assured that once the town is able to fill the manpower gap it will immediately resume the regular accommodation of returning LSIs.

Bohol has recently seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, recording 42 new cases in a span of two days starting Tuesday.

The total number of confirmed cases in the province stood at 186 with 72 of these active.

Meanwhile, the province has tallied 107 COVID-19 recoveries and seven deaths. (A. Doydora)