By Freddie Lazaro
SANTA ANA, Cagayan – Hundreds of rapid test kits, and personal protective equipment (PPEs) were recently donated by the First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp. and Foremost Cagayan Development Corp. to help prepare the local government here in its transition to general community quarantine (GCQ).
Secretary Raul Lambino, administrator and chief executive officer of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), thanked the two firms for their support, saying the rapid test kits and PPEs were essential to secure the health of the people, especially the workers inside the Cagayan Freeport, during the transition to the “new normal”.
To date, the two CEZA locators have donated some medical kits, made up of 500 rapid tests kits, 1,700 PPEs, 320,000 surgical face masks, 40,000 washable face masks, 1,500 surgical gloves, 40,000 bottles of alcohol, 1.9 million Vitamin C, 1,500 bars of antibacterial soaps, 80 units of thermal scanners and assorted grocery goods and rice.
Lambino said the government’s decision to quickly enforce the Luzon-wide lockdown last March, and the people’s willingness to follow restrictions with patience and perseverance, plus the sacrifices of the medical frontliners and local officials, have greatly helped in curbing the outbreak of the pandemic in the whole of the Cagayan Valley region.
He, however, said that under a modified quarantine, it would be for the greater good to require the people to wear face masks in public and observe strict adherence to social distancing, sanitation guidelines and travel protocols while enjoining the local government units (LGUs) to maintain fully-manned and adequately equipped health facilities and isolation quarters.