By Francis Allan L. Angelo
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas advised city residents who will hold parties with people outside their immediate households to isolate themselves to avoid spreading COVID-19 this Christmas season.
Treñas issued the warning in anticipation of Christmas parties by residents that could become super-spreaders of the dreaded disease.
The mayor said extra caution should be taken as only two things are certain when one gets infected – either you get well or die.
“Dear everyone. If you intend to celebrate Christmas with more than your immediate household, please start isolating yourselves today and tell all who will be joining you to do the same. If not, there is a chance one or some of you will be carrying the COVID virus to the party. If so, there is a chance one or some of you will be starting with COVID symptoms by the New Year. Don’t worry. By the Day of the Three Kings, you will probably be well again. On the other hand, you could be on a ventilator or dead. Choose wisely,” Treñas said in a Facebook post.
The mayor said he also wants all Ilonggos to partake of the COVID vaccine once it is available.
“We want you around to benefit from the Covid vaccine when it finally gets here.”
Fortunately for the city, it only logged nine new cases on Friday, three on Saturday, and one as of Sunday afternoon.
Last week, Iloilo City Covid-19 team spokesperson Jeck Conlu warned the public against complacency as most new transmissions were detected in households that held parties recently.
“These are local transmissions, particularly in households. Some of them were close contacts of previous cases involving family gatherings,” Conlu said.
Conlu also cited the case of a financial institution where 14 employees were infected.
“It’s either one of the employees got infected in their home and spread it to their workplace. Or it could also be that they got the virus while at work,” he added.
Mayor Treñas banned large family gatherings and Christmas parties which are potential super-spreaders.
The city already got a taste of the problem after a family gathering led to more than 23 infections early this month.
Conlu said the mayor will issue an order to City Hall workers prohibiting them from holding or attending parties, either within or outside the city.
He also cautioned city residents who will attend out-of-town parties in Iloilo province to be careful by following health protocols.
“If they will attend parties outside the city like in resorts, they should be very careful because they might bring in the infection to their homes and workplaces here in the city,” he added.
Conlu said another factor in the upsurge is the aggressive contact tracing and fast release of COVID-19 testing results by the city’s molecular laboratory.
