By Armando Fenequito
DAVAO CITY --The Davao del Norte Provincial Government has released a P16 million budget that will be used to fight the deadly Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19).
Governor Edwin Jubahid said the budget was approved during the first quarter meeting with the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Council (PDRRMC) on March 10.
Jubahib said the council agreed to utilize the Quick Response Fund (QRF) which was not used last year for the purchase of equipment that can detect COVID-19.
“In our province, kailangan mag-prepare ta kay la ta kabalo mapasukan tayo. The PDR budget instead of equipment for flood mitigating projects, we buy Thermal Machine to detect the heat sa tawo (In our province, we need to prepare since we do not know when the virus will enter. The Provincial Disaster Response budget, instead of buying equipment for flood mitigating projects, we will buy thermal machines to detect human temperature),” he said.
The governor said he will also require the local government units (LGU) to purchase thermal machines from municipal level down to barangays for them to use in their surveillance of people in their area who travelled abroad and manifest symptoms of Covid-19.
Jubahib said he will call for a meeting with the mayors and barangay captains to advise them on the preventive measures of COVID-19.
On March 9, the governor issued Health Advisory No. 2020-003 urging the people to be vigilant and observe proper hygiene, practice social distancing, as well as proper coughing and sneezing etiquette.