A SPIKE of Covid-19 positive cases in Baguio City is expected in the wake of the arrival of test kits.
Dr. Rowena Galpo of the Baguio City Health Services Office said with the arrival of 5,000 kits, there will be an increase of confirmed cases.
“We have not been reporting because we have not been testing,” said Galpo, as she advised it is best to assume that everyone is infected in a bid to observe guidelines.
“My advice is that we assume that every person we get in contact with is positive with Covid, we should practice social distancing, wear masks, practice hand washing and cough and sneeze manners,” Galpo said.
She added the goal is to flatten the Covid-19 pandemic curve, adding guidelines of the enhanced community quarantine must be strictly followed which includes social and physical distancing.
The Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, being a sub-national testing center and with the arrival of test kits, can now conduct at least 100 tests done a day.
Galpo said there is a break from the Department of Health (DOH) protocol in the city as patient under investigation (PUI) and person under monitoring (PUM) are also being contact traced as a preventive measure to thwart the spread of the virus.
A Philippine National Police (PNP) software is also being used to make contact tracing faster and more accurate bringing the system to a digital format for health experts to see at a glance secondary and close contacts.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong has merged police power with medical experts to assure contact tracing will be accurate as the city races against time to contain spread of the Covid - 19 threat.
Health workers are now assisted by personnel from the PNP to assist in interviewing Covid-19 cases.
Magalong underscored the PNP’s extensive training on interviewing something that the medical team can use to avoid bypassing crucial information.
As of March 31, the Cordillera region recorded 16 confirmed cases with Baguio City having 12 while Benguet and Abra with two cases each.
There are also 693 PUIs, 85 of which are still admitted, 292 are under home quarantine, and 313 were discharged based on our provincial and city reporting units.
Four deaths were recorded by DOH-CAR with three of this having a negative test.
The Cordillera region is the only region which logs presumptive positive cases while awaiting confirmatory testing from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
PUIs are considered as positive presumptive cases and are awaiting test results.