By Emme Rose Santiagudo and Joseph B.A. Marzan
With the increasing number of persons with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recorded in Iloilo City and the region, Mayor Jerry Treñas is pushing for tests on all persons under monitoring (PUMs) and persons under investigation (PUIs).
PUIs are persons with travel history to places with confirmed local transmission showing signs and symptoms of COVID-19 while PUMs are persons with travel history to places with confirmed local transmission but are asymptomatic.
In a press conference on Monday, the mayor said he wanted to subject all PUMs and PUIs recorded in the city to COVID-19 testing.
“Ang akon gusto ang PUM and PUI iswab ta na para siguraduhon ta na kon positive sila or indi,” he said.
Two confirmed COVID-19 cases were recorded in Iloilo City.
One of the two cases, a 72-year-old male who had travel history to Metro Manila died on March 21, 2020.
He expressed his dismay with the Department of Health (DOH) 6 for not subjecting the family of the positive cases to testing.
“I have to be honest I drew flak sa DOH last Sunday because may ara na kita positive diri sa Iloilo and asta last Sunday morning wala pa nila maswab ang family sang nagpositive. As much as possible, we have to make sure nga macheck ang pamilya,” he lamented.
The mayor emphasized that the health department should not be complacent given the urgency of the situation.
“This is not the time for us to be complacent and now we are very lucky na may ara kita nga laboratory and test kits so we have to make sure kon sin-o pwede ta maswab, swab ta. Now is not the time nga mapa easy-easy kita,” he stressed.
Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district has been operating as a subnational testing laboratory for diagnosing Covid-19.
The mayor added that around 120,000 testing kits will soon be made available for the entire region.
DORM FOR FRONTLINERS
Meanwhile, mayor Treñas said that the Capt. John B. Lacson vessel of John B. Lacson Maritime Foundation University (JBLFMU) will be used as temporary lodging for frontliners and other essential employees of the Iloilo City Government.
While the Memorandum of Agreement with JBLFMU has yet to be signed, arrangements are already underway with MORE Electric and Power installing power lines to the ship.
“Ang aton nga frontliners, at least up to 100, ang diri sa city hall kag sa [Public Safety and Transportation Management Office], dira sa John B. Lacson nga training ship kag gapasalamat ako sa MORE kay ginbutangan nila electric connectivity dira. Ginpasalig ko ang MORE nga kun pila ang kuryente nga kinanglan da, kita ang magbayad,” the mayor said.
He added that he had also called Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Wendel Avisado to ask him to adjust the requirements for the city’s payment of the electric bills.
“Gintawgan ko sila and said nga may pondo kita, kag ginhambal ko nga kun indi niyo pagluwag-luwagan, wala kita sang inugbayad,” he said.
FACILITIES
Treñas said that other facilities are being made available separately for frontline healthcare workers in city hospitals.
He said that in addition to the “Uswag Dorm” at Iloilo City Community College in Molo, an apartment in Mandurriao is being offered for non-frontline staff of the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in the same district, although nearby residents howled against the idea.
“Ang healthcare workers, may isa ka apartment sa Mandurriao nga gin-make available para sa mga taga-WVMC nga mga health personnel. Indi na ni nga mga frontliners. Galing may problema to, kay ang mga residente sang subdivision naga-reklamo,” Treñas said.
He said that he had informed WVMC chief Dr. Joseph Dean Nicolo of the “Uswag Dorms” that his staff can avail.
“So I told Dr. [Joseph] Nicolo kun may problema gd man sila we are ready to house the frontliners didto sa ICCC, kun mapuno naman sa ICCC diretso naman kita sa [Technical Institute of Iloilo City]. Very sad that these things are happening, sa subong, now is not the time to handle this. Pagkatapos lang sini but in the meantime, we are preparing something para makadtuan sang frontliners naton,” he said.
The Uswag Dorms were conceptualized following reports that workers of another hospital in the city were evicted from their boarding houses and discriminated by some establishments.
STATUS
Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, the city’s point person on the COVID-19 situation, said Iloilo City hospitals are still capable of receiving COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients.
“Dapat tanan nga hospital gabaton sila unless puno-puno gid bala. Amu man lang na ang reason nga-a wala sila gabaton is because puno na sila. Pero sa last meeting namon, it was agreed upon nga ang mga hospitals mabaton sang non-COVID kay ma-dedicate kita sang hospital solely for the COVID (patients),” Fortuna said.
Public and private hospitals in Iloilo City, as well as the Western Visayas Sanitarium in Santa Barbara town, signed an agreement on March 24 designating WVMC as the dedicated hospital for confirmed COVID-19 patients.
The agreement also covers the referral process for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 cases in the city and Region 6.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported that as of 1 p.m. of March 30, there are 54 Persons Under Investigation (PUI), 441 actively-monitored Persons Under Monitoring (PUM) and 1,847 PUMs who have completed their 14-day Home Quarantine.
PUIs are persons with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 who have been previously exposed to confirmed cases and/or traveled to infected areas either here or abroad.
PUMs are persons who have no signs and symptoms but have travel history to infected areas and/or have had exposure to PUIs.
