UK variant cases’ contacts contained

The city’s contact tracing team has contained the contacts in Baguio of the Covid-19 B117 variant cases detected in La Trinidad, Benguet.
In her report to Mayor Benjamin Magalong during their management committee meeting last Feb. 16, City Health Services Officer Rowena Galpo said of the 67 contacts traced in Baguio and La Trinidad, 36 are positive, of which 23 are from Baguio.
She said select samples have been sent to the Philippine Genome Center for sequencing for the B117 variant.
Galpo said so far, none of the contacts of the 23 contacts have been infected of the SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes the Covid-19.
Galpo also reported to Magalong about the bed capacity of hospitals in the city. From the previous classification of being in the danger zone, she said the hospitals are now in the warning zone.
Danger zone means 75 percent of the total bed capacity of a hospital is occupied and warning zone means 50 percent of beds have been occupied.
In terms of isolation facilities, Galpo recommended to the mayor the closure of two dormitories and an apartment reserved by city government since May 2020 in anticipation of a surge in cases.
She said of the 934 total bed capacity of isolation facilities, 185 are occupied while 685 are vacant. Construction of isolation facilities in Benguet has helped lessen the occupancy rate in Baguio, Galpo said.
Isolation facilities currently used in Baguio are the Sto. Niño Jesus and Teachers’ Camp.
Baguio continues to conduct expanded testing despite the decline in cases.
The city government has arranged pooled testing among business establishments employing more than 10 workers and at the city public market.
Still using the gold standard RT-PCR test in screening for the presence of the SARS-CoV2, the pool method allows a minimum of five people to be screened using one test kit.
In his letter addressed to business establishments, Magalong said businesses that intend to have their employees tested may avail of the pool test where they would spend less compared to individual RT-PCR tests. – Rimaliza A. Opiña