SEVEN months after the declaration of various levels of community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Dasol town in Pangasinan province has not yet recorded any confirmed case of the disease.
In an interview on Thursday, October 1, Mayor Noel Nacar said the local government ensures that all minimum health protocols recommended by the national government and health experts are being imposed to maintain the municipality's Covid-19-free status.
"Our townspeople have cooperation with the LGU. Actually, if there are locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from outside the province, they make sure that proper coordination is done with us," Nacar said.
He said in the instance that an LSI gets through the checkpoints or has no required documents, such as travel authority and medical health certificate, the concerned Barangay Health Emergency Response Team would report immediately to the municipal health office and the LSI would be brought to the designated isolation facility for quarantine.
"If the LSI happens to have no negative result of Covid-19 testing, the LGU will initiate the conduct of swab or rapid testing," Nacar said, adding that they have temporarily suspended fetching LSIs from outside the province because the town's quarantine facility might reach its capacity.
He, however, denied that they use a "military approach" in carrying out health protocols in Dasol.
Nacar said they are merely strict in implementing the protocols, such as curfew hours, to contain the spread of Covid-19. (PNA)