Two women from Cabanatuan, including a dialysis patient, tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID 19), the Nueva Ecija inter-agency task force confirmed on Tuesday (April 28).
The task force reported the total number of COVID-19 cases in Nueva Ecija is now 44, with three deaths, and 15 recoveries.
Patient 43, a 29-year-old resident of Barangay Sumacab Este, Cabanatuan City, is now under strict home quarantine after he was discharged from a hospital on April 24.
Patient 44, meanwhile, is a 49-year-old dialysis patient from Barangay Bakod Bayan, who is now admitted at the Wesleyan University-Philippines General Hospital.
As of this posting, the province has 872 patients under investigation for COVID-19. However, there are 48 suspected to have the virus died while waiting for their test results.
Meanwhile, Nueva Ecija police officers reported they had arrested 481 enhanced community quarantine violators as of today, April 28.
Of that number, 249 were charged for breaking the curfew, disobeying law enforcers, illegal gambling, and ignoring the liquor ban.
Police Col. Leon Victor Rosete, Nueva Ecija police director, directed all unit commanders to heighten the crackdown on “mass gatherings and rallies” in anticipation of protests on Labor Day, May 1.
Nueva Ecija is among the provinces in Central Luzon, which is still under the ECQ until May 15.
Also read: Family allegedly uses cash aid as capital for shabu business
4 men who used cash aid to buy shabu arrested in Laguna
Authorities arrested four men for allegedly buying shabu using the cash assistance they received from the government in Pagsanjan, Laguna, a report in Unang Balita on Tuesday said.
Police caught the suspects in a banana tree area after receiving a tip from a resident.
One of the suspects admitted that the money he used to buy shabu came from the Social Amelioration Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The police seized several sachets of shabu and drug paraphernalia from the suspects. They have been jailed and face a violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
It was not the first time that police arrested government cash aid beneficiaries. A man in Bacoor, Cavite, pleaded guilty to receiving P6,500 from the social amelioration program to buy shabu.