WITH ZAMBOANGA under Moderate Enhanced Community Quarantine status, the number of active Covid-19 cases are slowly decreasing, but medical experts and the local government reminded residents not to be complacent and follow public health protocols.
The number of active Covid-19 cases is now under 2,000 from nearly 3,000 in October. Among the barangays with the highest number of Covid-19 cases are Santa Maria, Tumaga, Tetuan, Pasonanca, Calarian, Putik, San Roque, Mercedes, Tugbungan, Talon-Talon, Guiwan, Baliwasan, Ayala, San Jose Cawa-Cawa, Divisoria, San Jose Gusu, Santa Catalina, Canelar, Culianan and Boalan.
The Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) also reported that the number of its Covid-19 cases is also declining from more than 200 in October to over 100 now, although it considers the number of admitted patients still high. But what worries doctors at the ZCMC is that 92% of its Covid-19 patients were unvaccinated.
Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, has repeatedly appealed to residents, particularly those under the government’s priority list, including children 12 to 17 years old, to get vaccinated as soon as the medicines are readily available. She also reminded the public to strictly follow the health protocols to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
“We urge residents to go to the health center and get listed for vaccination and for the public to follow the health protocols such as the wearing of face masks and face shields and to frequently sanitize 0r wash hands,” she said, but many locals ignore the public health protocols thinking the Covid-19 is just another flu which can be remedied by over-the-counter medicines.
The local government also issued a public notice, saying people who manifest Covid-19 symptoms or who have had close contact with a suspected or confirmed Covid-19 case should submit themselves for Covid-19 testing to prevent spreading the virus.
It further explained that Covid-19 symptoms are similar to the flu symptoms and persons with the virus can have cough, colds, fever and sore throat and/or lose their sense of smell and taste.
“Confirmed positive cases should give truthful information about their close contacts. Concealing your status, lying about your exposure to positive cases and evading Covid-19 tests (RT-PCR) for fear of lockdown and isolation could result in greater risks that might cause severe infections or even your life and that of your loved ones.”
“No tiene miedo manda man swab cay este ay ayuda salva tu vida y el vida del dituyu familia y otros pa que accidentalmente ay man tapon contigo. Swab testing should be done 5-7 days following exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cases. And if you get tested, you should self-isolate or stay away from others pending test results and follow the advice of health workers. Coopera y ayuda controla el calayat del virus para todo kita librao y protegido contra Covid,” the advisory said. (Zamboanga Post)
