TABUK CITY, Kalinga – As the city is moving towards the adoption of the ‘new normal,’ the transition necessitates utmost cooperation from the public to ensure that the community is secured from the spread of the deadly COVID-9 and other emerging diseases.
Tabuk City Mayor Darwin Estrañero emphasized this saying that the public must learn the new way of living, that everyone must learn how to safeguard themselves especially in public places to stay safe from the dreaded virus.
Currently, the city is now under Modified General Community Quarantine which is a transition towards the ‘new normal.’
Since there is already a provincial ordinance, everyone according to the mayor must use their face mask. Aside from that, the public should learn to keep their distance from other people when outside their homes, practice regular hand washing and hand sanitation.
He cited that during his rounds in the barangays, except in the urban areas of Bulanao and Dagupan, people are not yet used to wearing mask while walking around their community, while neighbors still gather around forgetting about the social distancing measures of preventing the spread of the virus.
With the opening of more commercial activities to include those offering dining services, he asked that business establishments especially in areas where public queuing is required should incorporate in their operations measures such as the placing of markers for the queue and arrows to direct people in walkways to avoid bumping each other, regular establishment cleaning and disinfection, posting of information materials on disease prevention and other ways of reducing the risk of infection in the workplace.
Meanwhile, Tabuk City Health Officer Dr. Henrietta Linden Bagayao is also emphasized the responsibility of employers in ensuring that their workplace is safe and the employees are in good health and fit to do their assigned tasks.
Since the city borders now allow workers from the other provinces to enter and work here, the responsibility of controlling the risk of infection relies solely on the management both in government and public institutions, Bagayao said.
“Mabalin da sumrek ken umay agtrabaho ngem dapat dagijay employers da ket i-monitor da isuda for any signs and symptoms that may prop up during their stay in Tabuk, or while at work and report it immediately to the barangay health emergency response team,” she said.
Tests and triaging she said should also be done specially for those coming from the red areas.
She also appealed to the public to be responsible enough in staying safe, and for all those coming home to undergo quarantine for the sake of their own families and communities.
The public cannot always rely on the government checking and reminding them, but it is now their responsibility to ensure that the disease will not spread by observing the new normal measures and if possible continue to make Tabuk City free of COVID-19, she underscored.
By Geraldine Dumallig
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