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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Mayor Vico warns against complacency in current Covid-19 fight

Mayor Vico warns against complacency in current Covid-19 fight

Published Jan 4, 2023 12:02 pm

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto urged the public to be cautious and not to be complacent following the detection of the more transmissible Covid-19 Omicron subvariant BQ.1 in the country and the uptick of Covid-19 cases being tallied brought about by the previous holiday season.

"Ipagdasal natin na sana eh di na lumala ang sitwasyon sa Covid ulit. Sinasabi na may bagong variant, medyo dumadami ang bilang ng kaso. Kausap ko nga po ang City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) natin nung nakaraang araw dahil medyo tumaas ulit ang bilang ng critical cases (Let's pray for the Covid-19 situation to not worsen again. The national government previously announced that it has detected a new variant of the virus and the number of active cases have also slightly increased. In the past few days, I spoke with our CESU because we saw an uptick of critical cases in the city)," Sotto said.

"Hindi padin sya masasabi nating mataas talaga pero tumaas, kaya kailangan alerto padin tayo, kailangan manatili padin ang mga health procotols natin (Right now, we cannot say that the numbers have significantly increased but otherwise, there has been an uptick of cases. That's the reason why we should remain alert and be vigilant in following our Covid-19 health protocols)," he added.

On Nov. 25 last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said it detected cases of the more transmissible and highly immune-evasive Omicron subvariant BQ.1 in the country.

Based on the latest genome sequencing result, 14 cases of Omicron subvariant BQ.1 were found. The DOH said that 13 of which are local cases -- from Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Calabarzon, Central Visayas, and the National Capital Region.

Aside from his Covid-19 update, Sotto also announced the city government's plans to further improve it's healthcare capabilities and services such as the expansion of the Pasig City Children's Hospital which will soon be renamed Pasig Hope Hospital, the implementation of the house-to-house delivery of maintenance medicines for senior citizens which will start within the second or third quarter of the year, and the expansion, improvement, and strengthening of health services in various primary healthcare centers and city-owned hospitals and facilities.

On Dec. 20, the mayor, together with other city government officials, led the opening of the Mega Dialysis Center (MDC) located on Eusebio Ave. in Barangay San Miguel.

The 1,390-square meter facility features 79 dialysis machines and other medical equipment providing treatment for renal failure and information on Renal Replacement Therapy to patients such as kidney transplantation, peritoneal dialysis, and hemodialysis.

Sotto said these are apart from the 24 dialysis machines currently in Pasig City General Hospital, two in Pasig Children’s Hospital, eight in Manggahan Super Health Center, and 10 in CHAMP, which will continue to ensure the accessibility of dialysis services to more Pasigueños.

Patients in the mega dialysis center will also benefit from the no-balance billing scheme where they will not be charged for the services provided.

The city government said the facility is a public-private partnership (PPP) for the People Project with Premier 101 Healthcare Management, Inc.

It is a city government-owned facility that seeks to expand the Pasig LGU’s capacity in delivering accessible hemodialysis services to its constituents while tapping the expertise and efficiency of the private sector.

Related Tags

metro news Mayor Vico Sotto covid-19 healthcare Pasig City
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