Local health authorities disclosed that at least 73 percent of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 cases in the city come from the economic sector or the working class which warrants the need for the members of the said sector to be vaccinated.
Dr. Donabel Tubera-Panes, Medical Officer IV of the City health Services Office and head of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU), stated that of the existing number of COVID-19 cases in the city, 13,578 belong to the 20-59 years old category or 73 percent of the city’s cases, 2,542 belong to the 0-19 years old category or 13 percent of the COVID-19 cases and 2,428 belong to the 60 years old and above category.
She pointed out that the city can significantly reduce the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic if people are ready in the personal, family and community levels thereby avoiding the possible surge in the number of cases and prevent the local health system from being compromised and the frontliners from being unduly stressed.
However, she reported that there has also been a significant decline in the number of deaths among the elderly since the local government rolled out the vaccination several months ago.
The medical officer asserted the importance of people being vaccinated to prevent them from contracting the severe infection that would cause their hospitalization and untimely demise to allow the gradual and safe recovery of the heavily impacted economy.
On the other hand, the CHSO-CESU head identified the top 20 barangays in the city with the highest number of COVID-19 cases based on the data that had been gathered over the past 4 weeks where the said barangays include Irisan, Camp 7, Bakakeng Central, Asin road, Bakakeng Norte, Pacdal, Gibraltar, San Vicente, Fort del Pilar, Loakan Proper, San Luis Village, Cresencia Village, Kias, St. Joseph Village, Honeymoon-HolyGhost, BGH Compound, Cabinet Hill-Teachers Camp, New Lucban, Fairview Village and ABCR.
Tubera reminded the residents not to hesitate to undergo medical checkup right on the first day of the onset of symptoms of the virus so that their condition could be properly evaluated and assessed by their physicians for them to be provided with the appropriate treatment and prescribed with the right medication.
According to her, the problem with most of the COVID-19 patients is that they only sought medical attention when the symptoms were already moderate, which already resulted in time that was lost right at the onset of symptoms.
With the ongoing threat of the continuous surge in COVID-19 cases in the city triggered by the dominant and more infectious Delta variant, she stipulated that when one member of a family will test positive of the deadly virus, then all members of the household will be considered as potential cases and will be required to undergo the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
She urged the residents not to take for granted the symptoms of the virus that they are currently experiencing. That is why the ultimate solution is for them to visit their physicians and avoid self-medication to prevent their situation from worsening in the future that could cause their health condition to deteriorate and eventually affect their productivity. By Dexter A. See
