DAVAO CITY –— The city government of Tagum is now tracing the establishments and places visited by the late priest Fr. Arnel Celis who was diagnosed to have died due to coronavirus-19 (Covid-19).
The priest had a travel history from Manila and upon his arrival to Davao he was considered PUM but after the 14-day quarantine, he remained asymptomatic and was eventually discharged. The priest went back to his normal routine until the time when he had a heart attack.
Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon in an interview with Newsline said there was a challenge in the case of the priest because he has been in serious condition after he suffered from a heart attack on April 20, but contact tracing necessary “So I went to the family talked to them to help us and they gave consent to male a public disclosure to help us in our effort”.
Fr. Celis is the first coronavirus pandemic casualty in Tagum City and in the province of Davao del Norte. Fr. Celis died on Monday, April 27, but the result that showed he was COVID-19 positive only came out on April 29.
The priest was in Davao City, according to Rellon, and was considered PUM until he went home in Tagum City on Easter Sunday.
Based on the information provided to Rellon they were able to draw an initial timeline of Fr. Celis’ whereabouts.
April 11 – Easter Sunday Fr. Celis arrived in Tagum City and between April 11 to April 20 before he was hospitalized, he visited the following places.
While in Tagum City he visited:
- Friends in the purok (village)
- Played Tennis near a gym; went the following banks: BPI Pinoeer, BDO, Mercury Drug, Lovenet TV Office.
- April 20, he was admitted at Tagum Doctors Hospital but was referred to San Pedro Hospital in Davao City for Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and went back to Tagum City
On April 21, he was admitted to Davao Regional Medical Center (Tagum City) where he was confined until his death.
The city government of Tagum called on those who had contact with Fr. Celis from April 5 to April 22 to inform Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERT) for help and to be monitored.
They also asked those who were visited and knew the whereabouts of the priest to call or text through COVID-29 City Task Force through 0995-990-3957 (Globe), 0951-164-6965 o 0951-795-3257 (Smart).
Those who had close contact with the priest were advised to undergo 14-day self-isolation and to inform the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team.
Rellon said, “We are connecting to people who could have been visited by Fr. Arnel and we ask them to help us in tracing people up to the 4th layer of exposure, as the second wave of coronavirus, God Forgives! should be prevented”.
The chief executive said the strong support of Tagumeños and their cooperation will be their key to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.-Editha Z. Caduaya
