AS RESTRICTION on tourism and travel eased, Baguio City is bracing for possible surge of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases.
Most local government units in Luzon, including Baguio City, opted to adopt the uniform travel protocol released by the National Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Ricardo Ruñez, medical chief of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), said they are prepared for the possible increase of Covid-19 cases in the country's Summer Capital with the impending influx of tourists.
Runez added that aside from the Covid-19 facility of BGHMC, other health facilities in Baguio City have also provided their Covid-related services to support the possible surge of coronavirus cases.
"We have been ready; we have been prepared from the past how many months. If the questions is on the possible surge or cases because of the uniform travel protocol, our hospital can only accommodate up to a certain extent of our beds and ever since we have been looking at the surge capacity which is why our hospitals here have divided its capacity to really accommodate each and everyone," Runez said.
Dr. Thea Pamela Cajulao, Adult Infectious Disease specialist of the Department of Health (DOH)-Cordillera, said that although there maybe varying data on the weekly number of Covid-19 cases in Baguio City, this pattern may continue to be present due to the continuing presence of the coronavirus in the environment.
"Last week, we observed that Covid-19 cases rose last Friday. We admitted 61 cases as compared to the previous week; we were averaging around 34 to 35 cases. Of the 61 cases 30 are severe, two critical, 16 moderate and 13 mild cases, which is why it is all the more important that we need to have ourselves vaccinated because Covid is unpredictable," Cajulao said.
Cajulao pointed out that the recent increase in Covid-19 cases in Baguio City cannot be blamed on the neglect of the people in observing the minimum health protocol, but is due to the presence of the coronavirus aside from the entry of the new variant, which is more transmissible.
"Again, the purpose of the vaccination is to really reach the herd immunity so that the certain amount of the population will have a protection and prevent the spread of the coronavirus," Runez added.