Tough to stop spread of Coronavirus in barangays

Councilor Franklyn Ong, the president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) and chief of the Barangay Kasambagan. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The barangays in Cebu City will have a difficult time preventing the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) because of their dense population. 

This was the statement of Councilor Franklyn Ong, the president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) and chief of the Barangay Kasambagan, following the directives of President Rodrigo Duterte for barangays to strengthen monitoring. 

With the dense population of barangays in Cebu City, the prevention can be challenging, especially social distancing. 

Still, he said they barangays will continue working to keep residents safe from the disease.

“Lisod kaayo ng social distancing kung sa usa ka balay daghan og nagpuyo. (Social distancing is difficult if in a house, many people are living),” said Ong. 

Ong said that if members of at least two households will prove positive to Covid-19, the entire barangay will be placed under community quarantine. 

He said it is easy for rural barangays or the 28 barangays in the city which are naturallyy isolated from the city centers by the mountains. 

However, for the urban barangays, this can be challenging because it is not easy to control the entry of exit of people to and fro the urban areas. 

Meanwhile, Ong said that at least 79 out of the 80 barangays have fully complied with the formation of the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs). 

One BHERT, comprised of four workers, can serve up to 5,000 residents. 

For bigger barangays such as Guadalupe, Lahug, and Mabolo, BHERTS can go up to two or more.  /bmjo