The observance of minimum public health standards at the various vegetable trading centers in La Trinidad, Benguet, which are being flagged as “super-spreader” sites, has been stressed in the recent meeting of vegetable stakeholders and officials of the municipal government.
Department of the Interior and Local Government-Benguet Officer Rufina Fegcan said the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post and the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center are Covid-19 hotspots.
“The LTVTP and BAPTC have become a national concern, that’s why the national government is looking at us,” Fegcan said referring to the national government’s monitoring of the town’s Covid-19 response due to the rising cases in the locality.
La Trinidad contributed 42 percent, or 6,970 cases out of the 16,786 total cases recorded in Benguet since March last year.
In September alone, La Trinidad recorded 76 Covid-related deaths and 24 in August.
Fegcan said based on their observation, workers at the vegetable trading centers have been lax in observing minimum public health standards, which were even captured on video and photographs.
“The LGU is doing its best to contain the rising cases with its various policies but what is needed is the full cooperation of the stakeholders in the vegetable industry,” she said.
The Municipal Health Services Office recorded 26 Covid-19 cases from the LTVTP while 21 from BAPTC from August to September this year.
Since last year, MHSO recorded 129 cases among vegetable traders from LTVTP, BAPTC, and backfill and another 128 cases among farmers in the locality.
Municipal Health Officer Antonette Agpas said most of the individuals from the vegetable trading centers do not subject themselves for testing and some are unaware if they are general or close contacts of Covid-19 cases.
To stem the surge in cases, the management of trading centers and the municipality has agreed that the number of people entering the trading areas should be limited along with the number of vehicles to be parked inside.
Other measures adopted are designation of entry and exit points, establishment of truck disinfection points, and implementation of “No ID, no uniform, no entry” in public and private trading centers.
The trading centers will be closed from 1 to 5 p.m. for disinfection.
From 5 p.m. onwards, trucks will be allowed at the trading centers and would stop if the facility is already full and on queue strategy.
All symptomatic workers are barred from entering the trading centers.
Mayor Romeo Salda said the health protocols are a reiteration of the health and safety protocols, which were followed by the vegetable industry workers at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. – Ofelia C. Empian
