The Cordillera remains free from novel coronavirus (Covid-2019) as of Feb. 23.
In the latest situational report of the Department of Health-CAR, there were no reported Covid-2019 cases in the region, as all persons under investigation (PUIs) tested negative of the disease based on the results of sample tests sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
In a briefing on Feb. 24, DOH OIC Regional Director Amelita Pangilinan said 28 individuals were under investigation of the disease, 11 of them were reported in Baguio City, seven from Abra, five in Benguet, three in Mountain Province, and one case each in Apayao and Kalinga.
Among them was a 10-month-old and the oldest is 57 years old.
Two of the PUIs are still being observed – one facility-based and one home/community-based – to satisfy the 14-day quarantine period.
Also, as of Feb. 23, the DOH-CAR reported 80 persons with age range from one to 72 years old were under monitoring for having exposure to travel in areas affected by Covid-2019. Thirty-eight of them are from Abra, 15 – Benguet, nine – Kalinga, eight – Mountain Province, six – Baguio City, three – Apayao, and one – Ifugao.
Seventy of them have already completed the quarantine and 10 are still under home-quarantine.
Pangilinan said part of the region’s response to the novel disease outbreak is the reactivation of task forces on emerging and reemerging diseases which were set up during the meningococcemia outbreak in 2005.
“What is good here is the region planned as a whole, so we are able to firm up the tasks of each concerned local government and government agency for the long term, in case similar scenarios happen again,” Pangilinan said. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
April 27, 2024
