BUTUAN CITY – The city government of Butuan strictly implemented health protocols in an effort to stop the spread of the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID 19).
With the easing of community quarantine implementation in this region’s premier and capital city, health authorities continued to detect locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 in some parts of the city.
As of Monday, Butuan City already registered 106 COVID-19 cases.
However, of these registered cases in Butuan City, 75 of them already recovered from the disease, the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH 13) based here said.
While the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has recommended that the whole region be placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) from August 1 – 15, the city government of Butuan continued to impose a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in its 36 urban barangays.
Enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was imposed at Purok 6-A of Barangay Buhangin where local transmission was most prevalent.
Authorities are now hastening their interventions to address the ballooning number of cases in the city.
On July 28, officials of the city, led by Mayor Ronnie Vicente C. Lagnada, inaugurated its molecular laboratory and COVID-19 facilities, which is the first in the entire Caraga region.
With its staff members and technicians still undergoing training, the laboratory will be allowed to operate upon the approval of the DOH.
Lagnada said the molecular laboratory and COVID-19 facilities will surely boost the city’s war against the deadly virus.
“We are now redoubling our effort to stop this virus,” stressed the city chief executive.
Meanwhile, construction of the same kind of facility is undergoing in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, and at the Adela Serra Ty Memorial Medical Center in Surigao del Sur province.
GeneXpert laboratories were also being established in different locations in Northeastern Mindanao or Caraga region.
The construction of the laboratory in Surigao City is now on-going, while the laboratory in Manuel J. Santos Hospital in Butuan City had already been inspected by the DOH and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and is expected to be fully functional anytime this month.
DOH 13 Regional Director Dr. Jose R. Llacuna, Jr. continuously appealed to the public to remain vigilant and strictly abide the health protocols.