DUMAGUETE CITY, May 14 (PIA) -- Negros Oriental Assistant Provincial Health Officer and Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) Commander Dr. Liland Estacion Citizens told Negrenses not to let their guard down against threat of COVID-19 infection even though the province is now placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ).
Estacion expressed concern over the majority of people who have stopped following the preventive measures against COVID-19 since the start of GCQ implementation on May 1.
“Medyo mura tag nakulbaan because katong mga butang na dapat nato buhaton medyo wala na natuman. Katong physical distancing, nanggawas na tanan tawo, wala nay uban nag-wear ug mask, nag-fiesta na sa dagat. Gasuroy-suroy na gyud ang mga tawo (We are concerned because people are not following the prescribed safety measures. People are going out of their homes. They are not practicing physical distancing. Some are not wearing face masks. Others are partying on the beach),” Estacion said.
She pointed out concerns from some people over the “second wave” of COVID-19 infection which could take place if the public will continue ignoring safety protocols against COVID-19.
“Gusto ta mosulti sa katawhan nga dili kita mosalig. We should be vigilant. Wala ta kabalo unsa gyud mode aning atoang virus karon. Unta magpadayon ta sa atong pagka-vigilant ug magpadayon ta ug practice ug unsa atong dapat buhaton (We would like to tell the public that they should not be complacent. We should be vigilant. We do not know the true mode of this virus. Let’s continue to be vigilant and continuously practice pre-cautionary measures),” Estacion appealed to the public.
The assistant provincial health officer also emphasized that Negros Oriental is not yet COVID-free.
"Ang Negros Oriental dili gyud ta covid-free kay wala man ta nag-mass testing (We are not yet covid-free because we have not yet conducted mass testing),” Dr. Estacion said.
Due to the insufficient supply of testing kits, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) for the meantime prioritizes persons who are identified to be under category 1, 2, and 3 of influenza-like illnesses to take COVID-19 swab tests.
Just recently, the IPHO started doing random swab tests to health workers, jail personnel, persons inside the city and provincial jail facilities, and even to the returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to make sure they are not infected by the virus.
Swab samples have been sent to Cebu for confirmatory tests at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
So far, the test results from VSMMC are negative.
However, Estacion underscored that this should not be a reason for people to lower their guard against COVID-19.
“Naa pa man tay pending na dili kita kabalo sa results. Dili ta mo-declare na covid-free ta. Even though negative tanan ang niabot nato, di ta mokumpiyansa kay naa pa man ta daghan pending result na wala pa ma-release (We still have samples there and we do not know what will be the result of the tests. That’s why we won’t declare the province as COVID-free. Even though the results we received so far are negative, we shouldn’t let our guard down because there are still a lot of samples with pending results),” Estacion said.
Estacion noted there are 287 swab samples pending for results at VSMMC. (ral/PIA7-Negros Oriental)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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