By Malu Cadelina Manar
KIDAPAWAN CITY – At least 11 dengue cases were monitored in a village here during the onset of heavy rains last week, Mayor Joseph Evangelista said.
Evangelista said that, while the city government was waging its fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), another health issue has surfaced, which was also as lethal as the coronavirus.
Dengue cases were monitored in Barangay Ginatilan.
The problem, however, was the City Blood Bank was not capable of providing blood platelets to those who needed transfusion.
According to Evangelista, the refrigerated centrifuge at the Blood Bank has stopped working last May 5.
As such, if a dengue patient needed platelet transfusion, he or she would have to be brought to bigger hospitals located in Davao City or in Cotabato City, which would be hours away.
Evangelista explained that his office has already requested the Sangguniang Panglungsod for the approval of a supplemental budget worth P13 million, half of which was supposed to be allotted for the purchase of a brand new refrigerated centrifuge.
A centrifuge is a laboratory device that is used for the separation of fluids, gas or liquid, based on density.
It also used to separate the components of blood, including red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.