With the sharp increase in Covid-19 deaths in the city in the past weeks, Mayor Benjamin Magalong advised persons with co-morbidities or pre-existing illnesses to seek early consult when experiencing symptoms.
The mayor said most of those who died recently had underlying illnesses and were already in severe conditions when brought to hospitals.
“Let’s not wait for symptoms to get worse before bringing them to the hospital especially if they have other illnesses and are considered high risk because by that time, it might be too late,” he said.
He said they will come up with schemes to make medical consultations easily available to residents including the setting up of a hotline in coordination with a group of doctors and enhancing monitoring of persons with comorbidities in the barangays and linking them with medical service providers.
These strategies will be announced once firmed up.
The City Health Services Office under Dr. Rowena Galpo reported half of the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in the city was recorded in October and five deaths were recorded in the last seven days bringing the total to 33 as of Nov. 11.
Hypertension, diabetes, and heart and lung diseases are among the common comorbidities of Covid-19.
Galpo said early consultation is the key to prevention of death.
Adult Infectious Disease Specialist Thea Pamela Cajulao of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center last October sounded alarm on the increasing number of severe Covid-19 cases in the city especially among the elders and those with co-morbidities.
“Remember that prevention is better than cure, but in instances that we cannot prevent it, early detection, treatment, and isolation can help decrease the risk for mortality,” she said. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
