TACLOBAN CITY- The temporary suspension on the return of the locally stranded individuals (LSIs) was welcomed by the mayors in Leyte province, in particular, saying this would ‘help’ contain somehow the further spread of COVID-19.
To recall, Interior Sec. Eduardo Año has called for the temporary lifting on the return of the LSIs in the entire region amid spike of COVID-19 cases of the region which was partly blamed to the surge of the arrivals of the LSIs.
Mayor Ma. Rosario Avestruz of Barugo town who is the spokesperson of the League of Mayors-Leyte Chapter, said that they were happy that their request for the temporary suspension of the LSIs were heeded by Sec.Ano.
‘This lifting, though temporary, will really help us local government units as we are already overwhelmed with the number of LSIs arriving in our respective areas,” Avestruz, in a phone interview, said.
She also said that the lesser number of LSIs coming to the provinces would also help in the decrease on the number of COVID-19 cases.
The town of Barugo has about two confirmed COVID-19 cases with about 110 LSIs, among others, now under their quarantine facilities.
“(The suspension) will also help us LGUs in terms of funding because we are allocating funds for the daily meals of these people,” Avestruz said.
She, however, was quick to say that they do ‘welcome’ their kababayans to return but not during this time while they are grappling the impacts of the pandemic.
In Leyte, the return of the LSIs, to include those who availed of the Balik Probinsiya program and the returning overseas workers, contributed to the dramatic increase of its COVID-19 cases.
At present, Leyte has about 224 COVID-19 cases, majority of them were LSIs, returning overseas workers and those who availed of the Balik Probinsiya program.
Meanwhile, the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH) in Eastern Visayas reported of 16 new COVID-19 cases of which 13 of them were LSIs.
This increase to 467 the total number of COVID-19 cases of the region.
These LSIS confirmed to have acquired the virus were from the towns of Libangon (one), and Sogod, 10, both from Southern Leyte province; and one each from Calbayog City and San Jorge town, both in Samar province.
The other fresh cases of COVID-19 of the region were from Catbalogan City, Samar, 2; and Kananga, Leyte, 1.
(JOEY A. GABIETA with LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
Mayors welcome suspension LSIs return
DOH: 3 deaths due to COVID-19 in EV
LGUs follow death management protocols
TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Health (DOH) here in the region has confirmed three deaths due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
All three patients were also suffering from other pre-existing illnesses but were confirmed to have acquired the dreaded virus, Dr. Minerva Molon, the regional director of the DOH-8,said.
The fatalities were from the towns of Kawayan in Biliran province; Kananga town in Leyte province; and in Tarangnan, Samar province.
In Kawayan, the fatality involved a 65-year old man who returned to his village in Barangay Inusayan of said town on June 11 from Manila.
He died on June 14, the day swab sample was extracted from him, Molon said.
The man was suffering from hypertension, heart failure and diabetes mellitus.
The second COVID-19 fatality of the region involved a 47-year old man from Barangay Aguiting, Kananga town.
The man, a locally stranded individual, returned to their village on June 15 from Cebu City but complained of chest pains the following day.
On June 17, swab sample was taken from him which turned out to be positive for coronavirus, Molon said.
But on June 24, he died while confined in a hospital in Ormoc City due to severe pneumonia secondary to COVID-19 and heart failure, the DOH regional director said.
The third patient to succumb due to COVID-19 was an 80-year old woman from Barangay Poblacion, Tarangnan town in Samar province.
Molon reported that the woman was confirmed to have acquired the virus on June 16 and was confined at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center four days later due to diabetes, hypertension and asthma she was suffering.
But on June 24, she died due to what Molon described as ‘multi-factorial shock’ such as cardiogenic and septic shock from community acquired pneumonia and acute kidney failure.
Molon said that the local government units where the fatalities came from strictly followed the protocols on the management of the dead involving COVID-19 patients.
“The concerned local government units of the concerned COVID-19 patients followed meticulously on handling of human remains to prevent contamination and transmission of the virus,” she said.
BY: LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA, RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT, RONALD O. REYES
NGCP donates testing booths, 10,000 rapid test kits to QC LGU
To aid frontliners in the battle against COVID-19, NGCP turned over 50 units of testing booths and 10,000 rapid test kits to the Quezon City local government, led by Mayor Joy Belmonte, on Thursday, 18 June 2020.
The testing booths and rapid test kits, including test administration and results interpretation, are part of the company’s continuing initiatives to support the national and local government’s COVID-19 response efforts.
As of 16 June 2020, the Department of Health has recorded the most number of COVID-19 cases in Quezon City with 2,689 confirmed cases, 953 of which are considered active or recovering.
“NGCP understands that this will be a long and hard-fought battle. We want to make sure that our donations will help ease the burden on LGUs and that our support will translate to direct results such as identification of COVID-19 cases. In this way, the process from identification to response and treatment will be expedited,” stated NGCP.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, testing will begin on Monday, 22 June 2020.
NGCP’s COVID-19 donations include a PhP 1 Billion donation of grocery items to over 1,000 LGUs and medical equipment to more than 300 hospitals and city/municipal/rural health units. The medical equipment donation includes ambulances turned over to UP-PGH, Philippine Orthopedic Center, Quirino Memorial Center, Philippine Heart Center, and Biñan Doctors Hospital. PCR machines, SteraMist disinfection/decontamination units, and closed suction systems were also turned over to various hospitals.
NGCP will also be constructing donning and doffing chambers, which are sterile holding areas used by medical frontliners to equip themselves with PPEs prior to entering isolation wards, within the hospital facilities of Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Rizal Medical Center, and East Avenue Medical Center.
Isolation rooms with negative pressure will also be constructed for Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center. Three (3) Class N isolation rooms and two (2) Class Q isolation rooms with negative pressure will be used for mild and severe COVID-19 cases, respectively.
Other earlier NGCP donations are the Meals on Wheels feeding program for indigent communities; a PhP5 million donation to Project Ugnayan which distributes supermarket vouchers to economically displaced families in Metro Manila; and earlier distribution of face masks and other PPEs to LGUs and medical frontliners.
NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy, Jr. and Robert Coyiuto, Jr. (PR)
Leyte town suspends accepting returning residents
TACLOBAN CITY – The local government of Kananga, Leyte will temporarily stop accepting returning residents as its designated quarantine facilities have reached full capacity.
In a statement issued Thursday, Mayor Manuel Vicente Torres said this includes all returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Balik Probinsiya, Balik Pag-as a program beneficiary, and locally stranded individuals (LSIs) regardless of their place of origin.
“Our quarantine facilities with a total of 120 beds are already loaded. Thus, we could no longer continue accepting new arrivals until further notice, as we have no more space to isolate them,” he said.
On June 16, the Department of Health (DOH) announced the town’s first coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) case admitted at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center here.
The local government said the community where the patient resides in Rizal village was placed under lockdown the next day to prevent a possible spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, two adjacent communities in Kawayan and San Isidro villages were also placed under lockdown on Monday, after it was found that a resident had close contact with a coronavirus patient from nearby Ormoc City.
“This is to protect my constituents from the local transmission of the virus. The increasing number of Covid-19 cases in our province is alarming considering than more half of the province’s towns and cities have at least one positive case,” Torres said.
Since the outbreak in the country, Eastern Visayas has confirmed a total of 342 cases, including 36 recoveries and zero death, according to the DOH monitoring report.
Of the total, 160 are from Leyte, 74 from Samar, 42 from Ormoc City, 33 from Southern Leyte, 21 from Tacloban City, seven from Northern Samar, four from Biliran, and one from Eastern Samar.
(GERICO SABALZA/PNA)