ILOILO CITY – A state of calamity has been declared in this city due to an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis and cholera, two water-borne and food-borne diseases.
The declaration was formalized Friday, Sept. 2, after the Iloilo City Council held a special session to adopt the recommendation of the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The Iloilo city government can now use at least P12 million from the Quick Response Fund to curb the rising number of cases and finance testing as well as purchasing medicines and other supplies.
The Iloilo City Health Office (ICHO) has recorded a total of 284 acute gastroenteritis and cholera cases, including seven deaths, as of Sept. 1.
The ICHO-City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) said 52 patients remain in the hospital while 67 are non-hospital cases. A total of 157 people have so far recovered.
Eight of the 284 cases are cholera, it added.
Dr. Annabelle Tang, acting ICHO chief, said that the other cases have not yet been confirmed as cholera.
Tang said that specimens have been to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) of the Department of Health (DOH) in Muntinlupa City for testing.
Meanwhile, Mayor Jerry Treñas has ordered all water refilling stations across this city to undergo water testing to check if water supply is contaminated.
Earlier inspections found out that deep wells in communities with clustering of cases were positive for coliform and E. coli bacteria.
Because of this, the Iloilo City Environmental Health and Sanitation Division has closed eight water refilling stations.