CAR: 27 Covid-19 cases, down in 2 weeks

By Liza Agoot  

BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera Administrative Region on Tuesday recorded the lowest daily cases of Covid-19.
    The Dept. of Health Cordillera tracker showed the region logged 27 new cases, which is much lower than the average 102 daily record in the last 16 days from Feb. 1 to 16.
    Abra, Apayao and Kalinga recorded zero cases; Baguio City had 17; Benguet had six cases; Ifugao has 1; and Mountain Province has three cases.
    The region also logged 31 recoveries on the same day.
    As of Tuesday, the region has 13,374 total Covid-19 cases with 856 active and a total of 12,318 recoveries or a 92.1 percent recovery rate.
    Meanwhile, the DOH-CAR said the provinces in the region continue to improve their readiness for the rollout of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination.
    DOH-CAR regional director Dr. Ruby Constantino, during the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) meeting on Tuesday, said the provinces are equipped with the Vaccine Assessment Tool to monitor their preparedness for effective and efficient implementation of the vaccination program in the Cordillera.
    Constantino said they are targeting a weekly assessment meeting to determine the progress in identified critical activities for each of the key thematic areas under the vaccination operation cluster.
    The thematic areas include planning, coordination activities; budgeting; prioritization and targeting; service delivery; training; monitoring and supervision; vaccines, cold chain logistics; safety, surveillance and response; and the demand generation, social mobilization and communication.
    Constantino said some of the local government units (LGUs) and hospitals have conducted simulation activities of the vaccination in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
    She said the simulation will enable LGUs to check on their vaccination plans and adjust them accordingly.
    The DOH-CAR said there are currently 252 cold storage units in the six provinces and city in the region that are mostly composed of residential freezers, except for Baguio City which was able to acquire two ultra-cold freezers that are capable of storing vaccines that require a temperature ranging from minus 70 to minus 80 degrees Celsius.
    This, as the DOH-CAR has recorded a significant drop in the number of several illnesses in January this year as compared to the same month in 2020.
    In its disease surveillance report, DOH data showed that from Jan. 1-30, influenza-like cases dropped to 69 as compared to the 678 -- a 130 percent decrease -- recorded in the same period last year; typhoid and paratyphoid cases with 29 cases from 266; and dengue with 35 cases from 251.
    The three illnesses logged the highest number of cases last year.
    Other illnesses, including viral hepatitis B and C, bacterial meningitis, non-neonatal tetanus, leptospirosis, and acute bloody diarrhea also logged decreases in cases during the first month of this year.
    Only one measles case was recorded in January as compared to the 106 in the same month last year.
    Constantino attributed the decrease in the number of illnesses to the observance of health protocols.
Geeny Anne Austria, a nurse at the DOH-CAR's Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit, said the record reflected those that are attended to and reported by the medical professionals.
    The cases are among the top illnesses regularly monitored by the department. -- PNA