City reminds public to follow protocols after ‘weekend high’

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Sunday reminded city residents and workers to follow minimum health protocols after a surge in new COVID-19 cases in the first two days of May 2021.

The surge followed on the heels of a downtrend in cases in April.

Data from the City Health Office-City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (CHO-CESU) on May 1, 2020 indicated that the city recorded a total of 335 new COVID-19 cases in April, with a daily average of 11 new cases per day.

This was 23.17 percent less than the 436 new cases in March, with a 26.67 percent decrease in daily average of new cases from 15 in March.

But in the first two days of May, the city recorded 38 new cases with 18 new cases reported on May 1, and 20 new cases reported as of 12 pm on May 2.

These new cases include 25 local transmissions (7 on May 1, 18 on May 2) and 13 index cases (11 on May 1, 2 on May 2).

This is already higher than the first two days of the past two months, with 25 cases in March 1-2 and 24 cases in April 1-2, also based on CHO-CESU data.

Despite the promising results in April, Treñas in a statement on Sunday reminded the public to keep following minimum health protocols to “protect ourselves, our frontliners and the people around us”.

The mayor also said that contact tracing is ongoing, and the number of new cases might rise as a result.

“I call on everyone not to lose sight of the present situation. We always have to be on alert and follow health protocols, and avoid non-essential travels. We do not want to overwhelm our health facilities with cases just like what is happening in the NCR, and other places in the country and the world,” the mayor said in a statement.

He also called for observance of minimum health protocols in community pantries in a separate statement Sunday.

“I am proud that Ilonggos have once again risen to the occasion and showed the true spirit of ‘bayanihan’ through community pantries. In these trying times, it is indeed important to think about others and not just ourselves. Even then, continued compliance to health protocols should be observed in community pantries – wearing of face mask, maintaining at least 1-meter distance from other people, regular washing or sanitizing of hands,” he said in another statement.

Iloilo City remains to be under the Modified General Community Quarantine, and the mayor recently signed Executive Order No. 039 s. 2021 to add several health protocols in the city starting May 1.

These include limiting funerals and burials to immediate family and household members, prohibiting non-essential entertainment establishments, prohibiting face-to-face classes, and regulating non-contact sports.