Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has activated a special task force to focus on raising dengue awareness in the communities.
He ordered the creation of a technical working group composed of the city’s health department and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to focus on information and education campaigns and community clean-up in barangays Payatas, Commonwealth and Batasan Hills.
The three barangays posted a massive increase in dengue cases.
The health department has raised the red flag following a 59 percent jump in dengue cases from 2,862 cases in January to September last year to 4,557 for the same period this year.
Dengue fatality rate also rose to 1.22 percent, surpassing the one percent considered as the safe threshold.
“Dengue is not only a health problem it also involves the behaviors of the communities. Help needs to come to the stricken communities,” medical officer Maria Lourdes Eleria said.