The town of Tanza, Cavite has been placed under a state of calamity amid the continuing increase of dengue cases.
Meanwhile, the country’s second monkeypox case has been discharged from isolation after recovering from the disease, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday.
Tanza municipal health officer Dr. Ruth Punzalan said there were 310 dengue cases in the municipality as of September 1, a huge increase compared to the same period in 2021 and 2020.
With the declaration of state of calamity, Tanza will receive additional budget to strengthen its anti-dengue campaign.
“Marami pong mga dahilan na posibleng naging contributory factor doon sa pagtaas [ng kaso ng dengue]. Ang Tanza po kasi ay isa sa mataas na populasyon [sa Cavite] at marami po kaming mga dense areas na barangay. May mga matao na mga lugar dito sa Tanza.
Siyempre, ‘yung waste disposal minsan, ‘yung sunod-sunod pag-ulan,” Punzalan said.
She also said the situation in three hospitals in the municipality remained manageable, although they encounter admission congestion due to dengue cases.
Punzalan recommended the designation of fast-lanes in hospitals to prioritize dengue patients.
“Sa ngayon, hindi pa naman sila nao-overwhelm, handled pa naman. Pero madalas na nagiging full house na rin,” she said.
“Minsan nage-exceed na rin doon sa designated space nila for COVID at saka for dengue,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health-Calabarzon on Friday turned over anti-dengue and other vector control supplies to the local government of Tanza, in a bid to control the outbreak.
The supplies will be distributed to schools and residential areas in Tanza.
This coincided with the launching of “Oplan Katok, Lamok Tepok” campaign where municipal employees knock at the doors of residents to check on sanitation.
Public information campaign through infomercials and text blasts will also be conducted, while the local government will implement a clean-up drive.
“Ang dengue po mga kapatid ay hindi pangkalusugang problema. Ito po ay environmental problem. Tapos kapag napupuno ang ospital, kami ang papagalitan? Pagalitan niyo naman ang sarili niyo. Iniaasa niyo lang sa barangay officials ang paglilinis,” said Dr. Nelson Soriano, provincial health officer of Cavite.
“Sa sama-samang pagkilos ng ating mga kababayan, na bawat isa ay may kanya-kanyang responsibilidad, bawat isa ay may kakayahang gawin ang kanyang maliit na kontribusyon upang siguraduhin na ang atin pong kapaligiran ay maging ligtas po,” said Dr. Ariel Valencia, regional director of DOH-Calabarzon.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the 34-year-old patient has “completely healed” from monkeypox and was discharged
from isolation on Aug. 31.
The patient’s 18 close contacts were also asymptomatic for the rest of their quarantine period, she added.
The second monkeypox case was confirmed positive on Aug. 18.
The patient had recently traveled to countries with confirmed cases of monkeypox.
To date, the Philippines’ tally of monkeypox infections remains at 4.
“Wala po tayong bagong detection (we have no new detection). Although there are samples being submitted but all of those samples, yielded
negative results,” Vergeire said.