BAGUIO CITY – The City Health Services Office (CHSO) will continue engaging the Korean community in the city to ensure they are aware of the precautionary measures to prevent them from contracting the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and maintain the city’s identity as COVID-free.
Dr. Donnabel Tubera-Panes, CHSO medical officer, said health officers are now getting in touch with the leaders of the Korean community to engagement them in getting updates on Korean nationals arriving in the city who will be subjected to the necessary health protocols.
She expressed the CHSO’s gratitude to the Korean community for being open and cooperative on the matter in the light of the sudden increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea with the Korean nationals have been providing them the important information on their history of travel for monitoring purposes.
The medical officer disclosed that since the implementation of the partial travel ban to South Korea, there were no Koreans that arrived in the city since February 25, 2020, although the city health office is still closely coordinating with the leaders of the Korean community to validate the same and to ensure that those who arrived will still undergo strict home confinement within the prescribed 14-day period for their situation to be assessed by health personnel tasked to do so.
According to her, the City Government is striving to monitor Koreans arriving in the city considering the considerable increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea over the past several days to ensure that those who are living in the city will not be infected by the global public health concern.
She advised Koreans who are sick to immediately visit the nearest health facility for them to be provided with the appropriate medical attention to prevent their health condition from worsening.
Panes assured the Koreans living in the city that the city health facilities are equipped with the trained health personnel who can manage their condition and any confirmatory tests to be undertaken will be referred to the Manila-based Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the only medical facility in the country capable of ascertaining the presence of the dreaded virus.
The City Health Official stated that people are now aware that there are no COVID-19 cases in the city, except for a few persons under investigation, and are now vigilant on the presence of sick people around them but the CHSO, other health personnel, and the barangay health emergency response teams, need to intensify the information education campaign to remind people of the precautionary measures that should be practice to prevent them from contracting the dreaded illness.
She asserted people need to be aware of global developments related to the disease to keep them informed on the latest trends of COVID-19 for the adoption of preventive measures.
By Dexter A. See
