Symptomatic Covid- 19 cases up in Baguio

CITY HALL BEAT
Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY -- Health workers have noted a marked increase in the number of symptomatic Covid-19 cases or walk-in patients who sought consult after experiencing COVID-19-related symptoms in the city.
    Statistics from the data center of the Contact Tracing operation center showed that symptomatic patients now comprise 12.8 percent of the total number of confirmed cases.
    Data analyst Mischelle Junio said this could be a cause of concern as it indicates an upward trend for random Covid-19 cases in the city.
    She said the cold weather may have started to factor in as expected and people have to double their efforts in strengthening their immune system.
    On the other hand, City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo said the increasing number of symptomatics can be a good sign that people are aware of the symptoms and the need for prevention of the spread of the disease.
    "They seek consultation due to symptoms of cough, colds and fever and this helps in early detection of the disease," she said.
    As of Nov. 11, contact tracing remains as the top reason for finding confirmed cases in the city accounting for 65.9 percent of the total number of cases followed by expanded testing at 16.6 percent and other reasons (travel, medical procedure requirement etc.) at 4.18 percent.
    Junio said the fact that most of the city's cases were found through deliberate means like contact tracing and expanded testing and the reality that it has a high testing capacity had set off Baguio City from other localities most of which do not have high testing capacities and programs on contact tracing.
    "That is why we can't conclude that Baguio is more high risk than other local government units without taking into account the testing capacities of all of these places," she said.
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With the sharp increase in Covid-19 deaths in the city in the past weeks, Mayor Benjamin Magalong advised persons with co-morbidities or pre-existing illnesses to seek early consult when experiencing symptoms.
    The mayor said most of those who died recently had underlying illnesses and were already in severe conditions when brought to hospitals.
    "We have to be proactive. Let's not wait for symptoms to get worse before bringing them to the hospital especially if they have other illnesses and are considered high risk because by that time, it might be too late," the mayor said.
    The mayor said they will come up with schemes to make medical consultations easily available to barangay residents including the setting up of a hotline in coordination with a group of doctors and enhancing monitoring of persons with known comorbidities in the barangay level and linking them with medical service providers.
    Said strategies will be announced once firmed up.
    The City Health Services Office under Dr. Rowena Galpo reported that half of the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the city were recorded in October and five more deaths were recorded in the last seven days bringing the total to 33 as of Nov. 11.
    Hypertension, diabetes, heart and lung diseases are among the common comorbidities of Covid-19.
    Galpo said early consultation is the key to prevention of death.
    Adult Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Thea Pamela Cajulao of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center last October sounded alarm on the increasing number of severe COVID-19 cases in the city especially among the elderly and those with co-morbidities.
    “Remember that prevention is better than cure, but in instances that we cannot prevent it, early detection, treatment and isolation can help decrease the risk for mortality,” she advised.
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Mayor Magalong and Dr. Galpo have debunked misconceptions about the Covid-19 tests.
    Some people have been peddling ideas that Covid-19 tests are a farce and that all illnesses even simple cough are being declared as Covid-19.
    The two officials said declaring a person as Covid-19 positive is not done on a whim but based on the result of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test, the gold standard test for Covid-19 which is a product of scientific studies.
    "Cough and colds are the most common symptom of Covid-19. In fact for most cases, these are the first signs of the disease and if one has them, there is a high index of suspicion because of the ongoing pandemic. But not all with cough had turned out Covid-19 positive as there are a lot with cough who tested negative of the virus," they said.
    On claims there is no need for testing and going to isolation facilities because Covid-19 has no specific cure and will fizzle out on its own, the two officials said: "If people do not subject themselves to tests, they have no way of knowing that they are carriers of the virus and thus are a threat to their family and associates. The same is true if they refuse to go to the designated facility despite having no suitable isolation space in their homes. They will be putting their families and friends in danger;
    "They may be healthy and able to withstand the virus but some of their family members, relatives or workmates who are elderly or have weak immune system or comorbidities may not."
    As a matter of procedure, asymptomatic or mild cases whose homes are not suited for isolation are brought to isolation facilities to halt their interaction with other people and prevent further transmission.
    Since there is no medicine for Covid-19 as yet, care for these patients is limited to relieving their mild symptoms if any with common medicines and boosting the immune system with enough rest and vitamin supplements if needed, Galpo said.
    On the other hand, those with severe and critical symptoms meanwhile are confined in hospitals and are administered more extensive care and treatment their conditions require.