DUMAGUETE CITY, Oct. 31 (PIA) -- A top official of the Negros Oriental Task Force-Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) said the category of COVID-19 transmissions in the province still remain under local transmission level.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer and IATF Health Committee Chair Dr. Liland Estacion maintained that the level of transmission in the province is still considered as local transmission as the provincial contact tracing team have already identified individuals who might have been the main sources of these infections.
“The in-charge of contact tracing (team) already reported to our governor and to the IATF na local transmission is still the status of Negros Oriental since naa na daw sila nakita na possible contacts of all the positives kung asa gikan (The status in Negros Oriental is still under local transmission. The (person) in charge of the contact tracing team has already reported to our governor and to the IATF and they have tracked down the sources who might be direct contacts of our additional positive cases),” Estacion explained in a press conference yesterday at the Capitol.
Estacion earlier noted that the level of transmission is still considered to be local transmission as long as the contact tracing teams can trace the source of the infections.
It will be categorized as community transmission once the contact tracing team can no longer determine the source of the infections.
In the same press conference yesterday, Estacion also announced 38 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the province based on the latest batch of swab test results from Cebu.
Bayawan City had the highest number of new COVID-19 infections with 21 cases, followed by Guihulngan City with six new cases while the municipalities of Tayasan, Santa Catalina, and La Libertad each has three new cases.
Bais City recorded two new positive cases.
Bayawan and Guihulngan cities have the highest COVID-19 cases in the province as of Oct. 30 with 29 and 19 cases, respectively.
With this, Provincial Public Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor said some areas in Bayawan City and Guihulngan City are declared as containment areas to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection.
“As far as Bayawan is concerned, ang head sa contact tracer sa province, niingon siya, naa sila containment zones na gipahigayon ( As far as Bayawan City is concerned, the head of the provincial contact tracing team informed us that the city already established containment zones),” Miraflor said.
He also disclosed that the Provincial IATF has approved the resolution of Guihulngan City Government to place Brgy. Poblacion under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).
The City Government of Guihulgan filed a resolution to put the entire city under ECQ which was submitted to the Provincial IATF for concurrence, and was later forwarded to the Regional IATF for approval.
Miraflor explained that the National IATF released a new memorandum circular in which the Local Government Unit (LGU) is authorized to establish its own containment zones.
He added that base on this directive, only certain areas in Guihulngan City will be declared as containment zones.
However, this matter still needs to be discussed further by the PIATF and the RIATF.
For now, the PIATF will continue to push for the observance of proper health protocols to control the spread of the virus.
Miraflor also acknowledged the efforts made by the city and municipal task forces and assured them of the PIATF’s assistance on their concerns.
“We know local IATF are doing their job on the ground and we are putting our trust on them. Kung naa man gikahinanglan na matabang sa PIATF (If there are concerns which PIATF can provide) then we will complement. However, the local IATFs are also doing their jobs,” Miraflor stressed.
Although the series of infections in Negros Oriental are still considered as local transmission, Estacion reiterated her call to the public to remain vigilant and always observe proper health protocols to avoid contracting COVID-19. (ral/PIA7-NegOr)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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