Fighting Covid-19 the Baguio way shows positive results

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY -- Reeling from the emergence of three new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in the previous days, Baguio City resumed its fight against the dreaded virus by intensifying its rapid testing of suspected cases and by pursuing the implementation of the rules of the Enhanced Community Quarantine with more vigor.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city conducted rapid testing of suspected cases using test kits donated to the city government by private entities.  The city implemented its local testing ahead of the Dept. of Health (DOH)-mandated mass testing.

As this developed, he asked the DOH to augment the PCR machine and provide more testing kits and reagents to the Baguio General Hospital regional testing unit in view of the expected influx of patients from the Cordillera and Regions 1 and 2 for the mass testing.  

He also asked groups and individuals intending to give donations to also help the city source out these testing materials as the city had used up all its privately donated kits numbering to 500.

He said that although results of these rapid tests are not confirmatory, they are helpful in determining COVID-19 probable cases and in unclogging the city’s cases by eliminating those with negative results after completing the 14-day quarantine.  These tests will also complement the DOH tests.

The probable cases are then subjected to PCR tests at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center for confirmation using the DOH-issued test kits thereby speeding up the detection of infection as well as the conduct of control measures like contact tracing, quarantine and medical interventions.

In fact, some of the city's confirmed cases were first detected through the rapid test.

The city in the previous days recorded three new confirmed cases after a 13-day respite: 46-year old Rosemarie Cantong, a streetsweeper in Scout Barrio and resident of Upper Dagsian who tested positive last April 9; 77-year old Albert Bumal-o, a stroke patient from Maria Basa St. Pacdal and a 33-year old Jonover David, a nurse at the Baguio General Hospital and resident of Woodsgate Subdivision Camp 7 who were diagnosed last April 14 and April 15, respectively.

As to the ECQ implementation, the mayor said they will not allow residents to lapse into complacency.

Last April 16, he placed Fairview barangay on a lockdown after observing the residents’ willful neglect of the ECQ rules as what he did to Pinget barangay in the early days of the ECQ.  He also warned East Quirino Hill of the same extreme measure if officials and residents will not change their ways.

Apart from calling out transgressions, the mayor also directed concerned offices to continue reviewing and adjusting ECQ rules to achieve its purposes.

After observing lapses in physical distancing in the market last week, the mayor ordered the schedule to be revised to further restrict residents’ presence at the market while pursuing more rolling markets in the barangays.

He also appealed to residents to abide by the health protocols, social distancing, curfew and other rules saying other places now look up to the city as a role model in the fight against the disease and this should encourage them to continue being disciplined which he said had been contributory to the tempered number of cases so far.

“We appeal therefore to our constituents to always be mindful of the distancing requirement and other health and safety protocols at all times and at all costs because our safety and yes, our lives now depend on it,” he said.

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Mayor Magalong cited the factors for the city’s high incidence of recovery from Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). 

“We have competent doctors and nursing staff, caring health workers and cooperative community,” the mayor said.

As of Friday, 12 out of the 17 COVID-19-positive cases had recuperated from the virus for a 70.58 percent.  The city registered one death or a 5.89 percent fatality rate.

Aside from the hardworking frontliners and responsive populace, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) Medical Officer Dr. Ricardo Ruñez also credited the proactive city officials and the sound policies instituted to prevent the spread of the disease.

“Big factors are the early diagnosis and prompt treatment, hardworking frontliners, city officials and cooperation of the community,” he said. 

Ruñez said the sparse cases resulting from the prompt control measures also allowed them to give quality care to the patients.

This week, the city witnessed three patients: 52-year old health worker Joel Junsay, 67-year old Jaysay Bactad and 49-year old Dr. Manuel Kelly being discharged from their hospital confinement.

Junsay, the city's first local COVID-19 transmission case and first patient to respond to Mayor Magalong's call for identity disclosure for transparency, was discharged April 13 from the BGHMC

On the same day, Bactad was released from the SLU Hospital of the Sacred Heart staff led by Dr. Paul Quitiquit reuniting with her husband Enrico who himself was a COVID-19 survivor having been released earlier from Notre Dame de Chartres. 

The couple earlier gave Mayor Magalong the imprimatur to divulge their identities to help in contact tracing.

On April 14, Dr. Kelly followed suit also from the BGHMC.  Dr. Kelly also responded positively to the identity reveal initiative of the city government.

All the hospitals had made it a point to hold send-off rites for their wards as a symbol of victory over the disease.