HERTF – CITY OF NAGA

Naga mobilizes HERTF due to new Covid cases

CEPPIO Naga — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 08:00:37 +0000

FIRED up by the news on recent cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), the City Government of Naga began to mobilize on Monday, April 24, this year, its Health Emergency Response Task Force (HERTF) to be able to plan out prevention strategies against further transmission of the dreaded disease.

HERTF is a local inter-agency body created by the city government with a mandate to establish preparedness and ensure efficient government response to assess, monitor, contain, control, and prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The course of action was executed a day after the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) placing Naga City in Bicol Region under Alert Level 1 status until April 30, this year, was approved. Bicol provinces such as Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Sorsogon got the same alert level.

Also declared under Alert Level 1 are the towns of Basud, Capalonga, Daet, San Vicente, and Talisay in Camarines Norte and the municipalities of Balud, Batuan, Masbate City, Mandaon, Milagros, and San Fernando in Masbate. All the rest of Camarines Norte and Masbate towns were put under Alert Level 2.

Unlike those areas categorized under Alert Level 2 or any other places with higher alert level, Naga City is exempted from observing restrictions on venue capacity, which means business establishments in the city are open up to 100% capacity.

In a meeting, Naga Mayor Nelson Legacion directed Dr. Ronaldo Amoranto, Acting City Health Officer, to lead the task force. He was also given instruction to review the safety prevention protocols to help limit the spread of the virus.

“We must remain vigilant and practice the infection prevention and control measures, such as proper use of PPEs, observe the physical distancing rule, and maintain a good personal hygiene, the health officer said.

After saying that the city government is waiting for the delivery of a new kind of anti-Covid-19 vaccines that has greater efficacy, capable to help the immune system to squelch any strain of Covid-19, Amoranto admitted that the new version of the virus is more transmissible than its predecessors.

Allen Reondanga, head of the City Events, Protocol, and Public Information Office (CEPPIO), said that the city mayor has instructed already the chiefs of offices and department heads at the City Hall to send their personnel suspected to have Covid-19 symptoms for antigen testing.

“I requested our health office to oversee the testing of our employees and check those with Covid symptoms so that we can immediately come up with interventions. We already have protocols in place, but it is still essential to remain vigilant because Covid-19 remains a serious public concern,” Legacion said.

Legacion preferred to prioritize the City Hall employees to ensure that they are not infected with Coronavirus considering the nature of their work as government employees who are onto the frontlines to serve the public.

Reondanga said that based on the guidelines of the Department of Health, a fully vaccinated person tested positive for Covid-19 will be sent to 5-day home quarantine. No office lockdown will be enforced.

The 5-day home quarantine rule, however, does not apply to those who are suffering from severe or critical cases that need to be brought to the attention of medical doctors at hospitals.

During the HERTF meeting, which was attended by representatives from different government agencies, it came up that sore eyes could be a significant Covid-19 symptom. Research cited evidence suggesting that Covid-19 virus could sneak into the body via the cornea, the clear half-dome covering the front-center portion of the eyeball.

An educated guess was also made that the virus could spread via tears into the place where it does the most damage – the lungs. How? Via the tear ducts in the eyelids that carry tears away from the eyes and into the nasal cavity. From there, the virus could be inhaled into the lungs.

As of press time on Wednesday, April 26, the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the City Health Office was able to register 15 active cases in the city. A total of 73 confirmed Covid-19 cases were chalked up within the January-April 2023 period. 57 were reported to have recovered from the disease with one failed to survive.

The city’s vaccination activity is continuously being performed at the 2nd floor of the SM City Naga from 10 o’clock in the morning to 4 o’clock in the afternoon, Monday to Friday. It caters to persons from 5 years old to senior citizens, residing or not, in the city. Symptomatic patients in need to undergo antigen test are advised to go to the City Health Office 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.

(LIZEL S. MACATANGAY and JASON B. NEOLA, CEPPIO.)

‘FASTEST, FITTEST STRAIN’ Naga braces itself for Covid’s Delta Variant

Jason Neola — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 01:16:00 +0000

BORDER CONTROL The Task Force on Security and Enforcement of the Public Safety Office manning the border in Barangay Del Rosario to reduce the threats of Covid-19 Delta variant.

The Naga City Health Emergency Response Task Force (HERTF) has called on the Nagueños to seriously abide by the health and safety protocols like the ones being implemented in the provinces of Cebu and Iloilo where Delta variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was detected.

The approach aims to alert the public and encourage them to be more vigilant against the possible onslaught of the new covid-19 variant “although not even a single case of Delta variant is detected yet by health authorities in the city.”

“In that way [by presuming that Delta variant has already hit the city and the necessary preventive measures should be adopted], we can expect a good compliance of health standards from our constituents to safeguard themselves from Covid-19 infection,” Mayor Nelson Legacion said in a press briefing last Tuesday, August 3.

Dr. Vito Borja, city health officer and HERTF chairperson, said Delta variant is highly contagious and can be transmitted via airborne in 15 seconds. “The public should also avoid gathering in crowded or cramped areas, as infections can still be spread in poorly ventilated areas,” he said.

As he encouraged the public to double the face masks they are wearing and advised parents not to allow their children, especially those who are 18 years old and below, to go out of their houses, Borja also stressed the importance for everyone of getting a vax jab. He said unvaccinated individuals possess higher risk of infection than those who got jabbed.

Public Safety Office chief Renne Gumba said transport vehicles coming in the city from Manila are strictly being checked for compliance of health and safety protocols at the border control in Barangay Mabolo and Barangay Del Rosario by the personnel of the Naga City Police Office and PSO Task Force on Security and Enforcement.

Gumba, who is also the HERTF vice chair, said the public may experience inconveniences by their operation but it can expect a good job in ensuring the security and protection of the community.

Tagged as the “fastest and fittest” among the strains of Covid-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Delta variant is feared for being more infectious than the other strains of covid-19 such as the Alpha (Great Britain), Beta (South Africa), and Gamma (Brazil).

The WHO said that “Delta, which was first identified in India, has the potential to be more lethal because it’s more efficient in the way it transmits between humans and it will eventually find those vulnerable individuals who will become severely ill, have to be hospitalized and potentially die.”

The city mayor along with Borja, Gumba and Allen Reondanga, head of the City Events, Protocol, and Public Information Office (CEPPIO) appeared in a press conference to brief newsmen on LGU’s policy recommendations vis-à-vis the possible onslaught of Delta variant in the city.

Legacion said that no less than 10 inspection and compliance teams are now being organized to speed up the review and evaluation on the issuance of safety seal certifications that are to be awarded to establishments that religiously follow the minimum health standards and came up with approaches that aim to protect their customers and clients from viral infection.

Also under the new policy, the mayor said, starting August 16, this year, senior citizens will only be allowed to go out of their houses to access for essential goods and services on condition that they are fully vaccinated.

In general, people are considered fully vaccinated: 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the SinoVac, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

The LGU’s campaign to conduct house-to-house inoculation for bedridden senior citizens has resulted in the vaccination of 106 individuals. The team that conducts the vax initiative is spearheaded by Borja who said that they are going to vaccinate 20 more this week before the task finally ends.

Legacion said the HERTF is now doing some assessment on the number of vaccinated individuals under the A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidity) categories.

He said once they found out that the LGU has already vaccinated not less than 85% of its A2 and A3, then it can now proceed to inoculate those in the A4 category who is compose of workers and frontliners in private and public establishments especially those involved in selling and offering essential products and services.

Borja stressed the urgency and importance of inoculating those in the A4 category due to their constant exposures to different people especially when they are in enclosed premises or air-conditioned rooms where the risk of infection is high.

The LGU is also extending its 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. vaccination hours at the Naga City Mega Vaccination Center in Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum (JMRC) to 8 o’clock in the evening or 5 hours longer with another set of doctors, nurses, vaccinators and support personnel on duty.

Children below 18 years old will not be allowed outside of residence except for accessing medical and emergency services. Plaza Rizal, Plaza Quince Martires and Plaza Quezon shall continue to be off limits to the general public until August 31, this year, unless there’s a need for extension.

The mayor also recommended the establishment of one more vaccination site with its own vaccination team operating alongside the Naga Mega Vaccination Center in JMRC.