Vax rollout, contact tracing reduce COVID cases in city

The sudden downward trend in COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City can be attributed to the city’s massive vaccine rollout, active contact tracing, and imposition of granular lockdowns.

According to Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, chairperson of the Iloilo City COVID-19 Team, the massive vaccination rollout was a big help to reduce cases.

“Dako ang accomplishment naton sa vaccination. Dako man ang bulig sang mga protocols nga ginapatuman ta during Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ),” Fortuna said in a virtual press conference on Thursday.

Fortuna added that active contact tracing of suspected and positive COVID-19 patients played a significant role in lowering the cases in the city.

“Ang aton active contact tracing dako ang bulig kay early naton naidentify ang mga Covid-19 positive kag naisolate,” he said.

The imposition of granular lockdowns through the issuance of executive orders (EO) weekly for barangays with more than two cases helped control the spread of the virus, according to Jeck Conlu spokesperson of the Iloilo City COVID-19 Team and head of the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO).

“Ikaduha kita or thrice mag-issue sang EO para sa pagpatuman sang granular lockdowns. So ang mga barangay nga may two cases or more gilayon naton ginapaidalom sa granular lockdown,” Conlu said.

From October 1 to October 6, 2021, the city only logged 415 additional cases, based on the data from the Iloilo City Health Office (CHO). This is 54.19% lower than the number of cases recorded in the same period in September.

Meanwhile, the average daily number of cases also dropped to 54.30%, from 151 cases per day in the first week of September to only 69 cases per day in October. (ERS)