TABUK CITY, Kalinga – This city’s Inter-Agency Task Force on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now preparing for the implementation of a 14-day enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Mayor Darwin Estrañero informed residents of the capital of Kalinga province, through his social media account on Thursday, that during the meeting of CIATF members, they approved the recommendation of City Health Officer Dr. Henrietta Linden Bagayao to place the city on lockdown due to the increasing number of COVID-19 patients.
Estrañero said the ECQ will be for a 14-day period to start on Sunday, January 24, or early morning Monday, January 25, to give time to inform the other municipalities of the lockdown.
He said, the recommendation of the CIATF will be forwarded today to the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for their evaluation, and if it is approved, it will then be forwarded to Regional InterAgency Task Force for the approval of implementation.
Bagayao, informed the CIATF, which is headed by Estrañero, that the city has 185 active cases from the 487 recorded confirmed cases.
Of the active cases, 65 were isolated at the Tabuk City Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility at Agbannawag, 34 at the Agbannawag Elementary School, 32 at the Tabuk Central School, 26 at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital, 12 at the Mija Kim Hospital, three at JVA, San Juan, four were referred to the Cagayan Valley Medical Center, while eight were returned to their respective municipalities.
Isolation rooms in both government and private hospitals, including the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility were all overwhelmed.
With these data, Bagayao recommended of a citywide lockdown to be implemented as soon as possible.
This will limit the movement of people to prevent the spread of the virus and expand the health system capacity because there is already over-lapping of contact tracing activities.
Estrañero in his post, said: “As of today, we have almost 200 active COVID-19 cases and there are yet a couple of a hundred samples awaiting results and more are expected to come in as the movement of our people are dangerously unmitigated due to the lack of discipline to some, the non- belief to the virus of some and to the total indifference of many kakailyans.”
The Provincial Health Office posted 50 new cases and one death related on COVID-19 in the province on Thursday, January 21.
Of the new cases, 33 came from Tabuk City, 11 from Tanudan, 4 from Balbalan,1 each from Pinukpuk and Tinglayan.
The province records its fourth COVID-19 death case a 71-years-old female from Poblacion, Tinglayan, Kalinga on Jan.21.