The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the city has risen to 124 as 16 more former persons deprived of liberty (PDL) were found positive of the dreaded disease.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, chief of the local Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19, said Thursday the 16 are among the 60 freed PDLs undergoing the mandatory 14-day quarantine at a private hotel in Barangay Zone III here.

The 14-day quarantine is pursuant to Executive Order 565 issued by Salazar, which sets protocols for the release of PDLs through court orders amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Salazar said the latest results Wednesday evening from the laboratory tests at the government-run Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) showed that 16 former PDLs are positive for Covid-19.

So far, 29 of the 60 former PDLs quarantined at the private hotel are afflicted with Covid-19 as 13 of their companions earlier tested positive for the dreaded virus.

Salazar said that all the freed PDLs found positive of Covid-19 have been transferred to the isolation facility in Barangay Cabatangan.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) said that five of the confirmed cases have been discharged from the hospital since they tested negative for Covid-19.

There are three recorded Covid-19 deaths as of Wednesday, the DOH said. (PNA)