Red Cross to help dengue patients in Capiz

By: Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The Philippine Red Cross (PRC-Capiz Chapter) is putting up emergency medical units in two district hospitals for dengue patients in the province of Capiz.

PRC-Capiz Chapter administrator Ray Martinez said the two emergency medical units will be placed at Tapaz District Hospital in Tapaz and another in Bailan District Hospital in Pontevedra.

The emergency medical units or tents have a 20-bed capacity and are fully air-conditioned so that patients would be comfortable while undergoing treatment.

The tents will help accommodate patients spilling over from the hospital and is managed by nurses, doctors, and volunteers.

Earlier, the provincial government of Capiz asked the Department of Health (DOH) to help the province in curbing the surging dengue cases.

Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras said he asked the DOH on how to prevent the upsurge of dengue cases at the Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital and other private and government hospitals in the province.

In response, the DOH provided 50 nurses, 2 doctors and 8 medical technologists.

Aside from the manpower, the governor said that the province is waiting for the arrival of dengue test kits, dextrose, and folding beds from the DOH.

Earlier, Contreras signed Executive Order No. 2019-001 declaring an outbreak after dengue cases went beyond the five-year epidemic threshold.

The Capiz Epidemiological Surveillance and Response Unit (CESRU) of the Provincial Health Office found a 771-percent spike in dengue cases from January 1 to June 29, 2019.  So far, 2,177 dengue cases with 14 deaths were recorded in the province.

In comparison, there were only 250 dengue cases with no fatalities in the same period of last year.

Roxas City led by Mayor Ronnie Dadivas separately declared a dengue outbreak while the towns of Pontevedra and President Roxas are both under a state of calamity.

Under the executive order of Contreras, a task force has been created to strengthen anti-dengue campaign.

In particular, barangays (villages) in the 16 towns and capital city of Roxas have to conduct “Kontra Dengue Day” every Saturday for the next eight weeks.

Contreras also ordered the province’s district hospitals to fully extend medical services to all dengue-stricken patients.