By Anthony Giron
IMUS CITY, Cavite - Authorities have implemented measures in a bid to curb dengue in Cavite province.
(Flickr / Oregon State University / MANILA BULLETIN)
In capital city Imus, the local council called a special session on Monday, July 29, with dengue as the prime agenda.
Officials in other cities and municipalities have also intensified actions with treatment and their cleaning and misting operations.
The provincial government declared on July 18 a province-wide dengue outbreak and state of calamity following the reported deaths and cases in the province's upland and lowland districts.
Cavite was the first province in the country to make the declaration.
The latest update that the Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (PESU) released on Monday, July 29, revealed that 22 deaths and 4,589 cases have been recorded in Cavite since January 1.
Cavite has the highest number of cases in Region IV-A or the Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) area, it was reported.
In Imus, Councilor Adrian Jay C. Advincula, chairman of the City Council Committee on Education and Culture and Health and Sanitation virtually led the session and meeting with City Environment and Natural Resources (CENRO), Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and other concerned offices that tackled, among others, the dengue situation and actions in the area.
"We are taking actions (against dengue) with all the concerned offices involved. We are taking a united action," Advincula told this reporter just right after the session on Monday at the city hall.
The six most dengue affected areas in the city are Barangays Buhay Na Tubig, Pasong Buaya II, Malagasang II-A and B and Anabu I and II-F.
Imus reported one death and 348 cases since January 1 this year.
It was agreed upon that cleaning and misting operations would be done in houses, schools and other areas regularly on Thursdays and Fridays or any other set days to prevent the spread of dengue.
Cavite province, deemed as the country's most populous, has eight districts comprising seven cities and 16 municipalities.
The outbreak was initially declared in Dasmariñas, General Trias and the municipalities of Alfonso, Carmona, General Mariano Alvarez (GMA), Indang, Naic and Silang.
The provincial government and the health authorities are doing everything to address the dengue problem in the province.
Provincial Epidemiologist Nelson C. Soriano called on residents to seek medical assistance at once if symptoms persist and always clean their house and surroundings in a bid to prevent the virus.
The provincial and city and municipal governments have put up a "must" program against dengue which include treatment, larvae survey or house-to-house search for dengue breeding places and the clean-up operations.
The provincial government declared the province-wide dengue outbreak and placed the whole province in a state of calamity the last time on September 19, 2015. A total of 48 deaths and 12,007 cases were reported from January 1 to December 31 in 2015.