Baguio Covid-19 new measures

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY -- Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong ordered redeployment of checkpoints in the city’s 129-barangays.

This, to limit residents’ movements to essential and permitted activities before curfew hours.

In Memorandum No. 125 series of 2020 the mayor explained, recent spike in cases called for stricter measures to contain transmission of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

He said the city is still under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), which prohibits non-essential travels.

As of press time, some barangays have started to comply with the mayor’s directives, setting-up checkpoints in coordination with the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO).

To serve as deterrent, the mayor said checkpoints must be located along barangay or interior roads and not on national or provincial roads. It must be operated under the supervision of the BCPO.

Checkpoints must ensure movement of residents are for essential purposes only; and, not outside current curfew hours. However, cargo vehicles passage must be unimpeded, the mayor reminded.

“We have been having a sharp increase in cases in our locale so, if you don’t have anything important to do, stay home. Let’s not put our guards down,” he reiterated.

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Mayor Magalong on July 20 also issued Memorandum No. 123-2020, ordering barangay chiefs and members of the Barangay Health Emergency Teams (BHERTs) to encourage residents experiencing flu-like symptoms to have medical check-ups.

City Health Services Office head Dr. Rowena Galpo was likewise tipped to prepare different health centers for the influx of residents seeking medical attention and testing.

The mayor said, “If we assess people with flu-like symptoms like fever, cough, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and fatigue early, we can immediately identify carriers and isolate them thereby preventing further virus transmission.”

These comes in the heels of a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the city in the past days, with clustering observed in two barangays. Patients of late manifested symptoms of the malady.

Allaying fears, the mayor averred, “Although we have had an increase of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the city in recent weeks, we are completely prepared and capacitated with adequate testing and isolation facilities for our constituents.”

He added, the city is ready to address future cases with its well-placed contact tracing, testing, isolation and medical systems.

But the residents’ cooperation remains to be a crucial factor, he emphasized.

The mayor appealed, “Please bear with us and continue to be vigilant in observing our health and quarantine protocols by wearing your masks properly at all times.”

“Wash your hands; observe cough and sneeze etiquettes; limit your travels outside of the home to essentials; maintain physical distancing; and, avoid the 3 Cs: crowded places; close contact settings; and confined and enclosed spaces,” he added.

"Treat yourselves like you have it. Treat others like they have it. Make it a habit.

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Baguio now has a total of 387 Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) to carry out Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) control measures in the grassroots.

Mayor Magalong said the number is now more than the requirement under the minimum health system capacity standards for COVID-19 preparedness and response strategies set by the Dept. of Health under its Administrative Order No. 2020-0016 for local government units, which is one BHERT for every 1,000 residents.

He thanked the Dept. of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Baguio Field Office under City Director Evelyn Trinidad for spearheading the creation of the teams.

Trinidad, in her report to the mayor, said that to comply with the DPH requirement, the city needed a total of 370 BHERTs but a total of 387 teams were actually organized or 17 more than the expected number.

The report showed that 15 barangays formed additional teams to address the needs of their population.

Irisan barangay had the most number with 34 teams followed by Asin Road with 14, Camp 7 with 13 and Loakan Proper with 11.

The mayor last July 1 ordered the formation of more BHERTs to comply with the DOH requirement and for the city to “effectively maintain and carry out standard preparedness mechanisms against COVID-19. 

Before the order, the city only has one BHERT in each of the 129 barangays.

The BHERT is tasked to keep a list of persons in the barangay who had been to COVID-19-afflicted areas and submit the list to the City Inter-Agency Task Force chaired by Mayor Magalong.

The BHERTs also enforces home confinement for persons arriving from the other areas, in coordination with the Department of Health; extend assistance and support to persons undergoing home confinement; refer and transport COVID patients; BHERTs members shall conduct regular barangay-wide cleanup campaign as well as provide information campaign to educate their constituents on proper hygiene and sanitation practices, in accordance to the guideline provided by the DOH.

The team is composed of a chairperson, a barangay tanod, a Barangay health Worker, a Barangay Nutrition Action Officer and a Barangay Nutrition Scholar where at least one member must be a registered nurse or midwife.

The mayor said the BHERTs may be augmented by physicians, nurses, midwives, sanitary inspectors, population officers, Bureau of Fire Protection staff, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office staff or volunteers.