TACLOBAN CITY – After being tagged as the epicenter of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) of the region, the town of Tarangan is now officially out from the list where the virus afflicts its people.
Dr. Minerva Molon, regional director of the Department of Health (DOH), has announced that they have already lifted their declaration of a local transmission in Tarangan due to COVID-19.
About 35 people were confirmed to have been infected in Tarangan with one fatality.
Molon credited on the successful containment on the spread of the COVID-19 in the town to whole-of-nation-approach that both the national government agencies and local government unit did.
“At first, we are confused on how to address the problem but as weeks goes on, we are able to handle the matter properly. In fact, one of the best examples of this is the whole-of-nation approach,” Molon said.
Military forces, police and other uniformed personnel, including national government agencies like the DOH, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development with support from the provincial government and the local government, help in making sure that needs of Tarangnan residents and quarantine protocols were strictly imposed in the entire town.
Molon added that during the visit of World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Tarangnan, they noted the intervention made in the municipality which can be a model if similar situation happens in other areas of the region.
Mayor Arnel Tan had imposed three lockdowns since the coronavirus hit the town.
First was on April 7 where residents of the two sitios or sub-villages of the town were restricted with their movements.
The second lockdown was issued on April 20 affecting residents at Poblacion B. Third lockdown was on April 29, affecting the whole town and the last lockdown was issued on June 1 to 15 in the villages of Poblacion A, B, C, D, E, Imelda and Palencia.
The DOH has declared on April 27 of a community transmission of COVID-19 in the municipality.
Roderick Boyd Cerro, DOH8 regional epidemiology and surveillance unit chief, said that during the first few days of their monitoring in Tarangnan, most of the residents who were subjected to swab sample could be seen outside their homes.
“But when people started to listen and they stayed at their homes, that’s the time that the transmission of the virus was controlled,” Cerro said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
