The local government unit (LGU) of Iligan City, Lanao del Norte should invest "heavily" on testing, tracing, and treatment (T3) efforts if it wants to contain its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation.
National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. advised them Wednesday when he visited Cagayan de Oro City to meet local chief executives and assess the situation in virus-hit areas in Northern Mindanao (Region 10).
"Sa pag-iikot namin, nakita namin na na-va-violate ay basically ang isolation. Karamihan dahil sa kahinaan sa contact tracing at kung wala o limited ang testing capacity, ang symptomatic ay nakakaikot ng maluwag (During our inspection, we observed that the most common violation is isolation (among virus-infected patients). Because of the poor contact tracing, and limited or no testing capacity, the symptomatics can roam around freely)," he said.
"Ang ano po namin sa Iligan ay paigtingin ang contact tracing. Through contact tracing, makikita natin paano nagsimula ang infection. Palakasin din po ang testing capacity (Iligan LGU should intensify its contact tracing. Through contact tracing, we can determine how the infections started. We need to strengthen the testing capacity too)," he added.
To boost Iligan's treatment efforts, Galvez turned over to the regional officials 2,050 personal protective equipment (PPE) sets; 4,000 n95 masks; 4,000 surgical masks; and 2,560 aprons for their use.
He also said at least 60 engineers will be deployed in Region 10 to fast-track the construction of Philippine Red Cross (PRC) laboratories in Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan.
Galvez addressed the issue that the NTF and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) did not act on the plea of Iligan Mayor Celso Regencia to place the city under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) due to the rising number of cases through community transmission.
As of Tuesday, a total of 1,135 cases were recorded in Region 10.
Nearly 200 cases were recorded in Iligan City and about 70 percent were from local transmission, according to the Iligan Emergency Operation Center's (EOC) Health Cluster.
"Ang declaration ng ECQ at MECQ is not sustainable. Kung hindi kaya magbigay ng SAP (Social Amelioration Program) o kinukulang na ng resources, mahihirapan na (The declaration of ECQ and MECQ is not sustainable. If they cannot give a SAP fund or they are running out of resources, then they will be in a difficult situaation)," Galvez said.
The chief implementer said the local leadership should learn how to balance health and economy which is the focus of the second phase of the National Action Plan (NAP).
Galvez said the local chief executive can adapt localized lockdowns where only select barangays, streets, or buildings with reported COVID-19 cases will be placed on lockdown to enable the economic activities in other unaffected areas.