EACH of the 62,000 households in Ormoc City is set receive one sack of rice from the local government, as the city is bracing for the healtht crisis brought by coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Ormoc Mayor Richard Gomez started the rice distribution for every home in the 110 villages in the city on Saturday, April 4.
“I would like to thank all the Ormocanons for cooperating and banding together with the local government in our fight to keep Ormoc Covid-19-free,” wrote the mayor.
The households who first received their rice supply were from the villages of Tambulilid, Linao, Lao, Catmon, District 29, Batuan, Alegria, and Ipil.
“Kay at the end of the day, basta naa ray bugas, okay ra gyod ang lockdown,” added City Councilor Lalaine Marcos, saying they are distributing the rice to every household whether they are rich or poor.
The city may have earned the “enmity” of the neighboring municipalities for its anti-Covid-19 measures by closing its borders earlier than others, yet for Marcos, the decision has proven to be a good one.
“We have a decreasing number of patients under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs) and we are hoping we stay zero until the rest of the region recovers. In the meantime, we are drawing strength from Ormoc's very cooperative private and civilian sector. We have to prepare for the worst,” Marcos told SunStar Philippines.
According to the councilor, Ormoc’s Covid-19 isolation facility is being ran by three private hospitals.
“We have various volunteers in our borders who do not only help guard our borders but buy and deliver goods and medicines for those from other towns who are not allowed to enter. Civic organizations are spearheading the sanitation of our streets. Ormoc, I may say, is the epitome of Bayanihan and is showing the will to heal as one,” Marcos added.
As of 5 p.m. Monday, April 6, Ormoc has 45 remaining PUIs from the 125 total recorded PUIs, and 269 remaining PUMs from the total 2,143 recorded PUMs.
Meanwhile, the city will strictly implement its “No Mask, No Entry, No Business around Ormoc” policy effective Wednesday, April 8, as preemptive measure against the disease.