Guagua town under state of calamity

PAMPANGA. Guagua Mayor Dante Torres. (Contributed photo)
PAMPANGA. Guagua Mayor Dante Torres. (Contributed photo)

THE second district town of Guagua in Pampanga is now under a state of calamity after the Municipal Government noted the exponential rise in the number of Covid-19 cases and the increasing number of fatalities due to the disease.

On Monday, August 23, the Municipal Council of Guagua unanimously passed Resolution 82-2021, which was backed by Mayor Dante Torres' Executive Order 27-S-2021, directing urgent measures to be taken to combat the virus.

Torres said that based on latest statistics, a steady spike of Covid-19 cases due to the reported emerging new variants of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is occurring.

“The lingering effects of this disease is taking a toll on the economic and social lives of our constituents,” he said.

As of August 22, Guagua recorded a total of 1,735 Covid-19 cases. Of these, 455 are active cases, 1,164 are recoveries, and 116 are mortalities.

Torres directed the Municipal Health Office to intensify the conduct of mass testing and contact tracing in the town, establish a 24/7 Covid-19 symptoms consultation, and coordinate with the Department of Health for the accreditation of local government unit-identified isolation facilities.

“We also tasked the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to assist in the mass testing, transport of Covid-19 patients to isolation facilities, and provide oxygen tanks to patients who are at home while waiting for hospital admission,” the mayor said.

Torres added that the local government will also conduct relief operations and psycho-social interventions to affected populations.

“We will also intensify our implementation of health and safety protocols, especially in our public market. Our barangays are also directed to augment by putting up checkpoints and implementing granular lockdowns in affected communities,” he said.

Torres said they decided to declare a state of calamity because they need additional funds to sustain areas that are under granular lockdown and be able to provide food, medicine, and burial assistance to the affected population.

He said the spike in the town’s cases is due to the free antigen testing program of the Municipal Government, wherein even those who are asymptomatic are being detected.

Meanwhile, in the entire province of Pampanga as of August 20, 90 percent of the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities are already occupied, while 97.84 percent of beds for severe and critical cases at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital are already utilized. (JTD/With PIA-Central Luzon)

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