Mandaue City braces for another COVID-19 surge

FILE PHOTO: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (greenish brown) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (pink), also known as novel coronavirus.  REUTERS.

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The Mandaue City Government is now preparing for another possible surge of COVID-19.

Lawyer Jamaal James Calipayan, the City Administrator, said as the city’s COVID-19 cases continue to increase, they are now looking for additional isolation units and more contact tracers.

He said they are considering dormitories, pension houses, and English schools as additional isolation units because public schools will be used by teachers in printing and distributing modules.

Currently, Mandaue City only has two isolation facilities located at the old North Bus Terminal compound in Barangay Subangdaku and at the Norkis Park in Barangay Looc. Each facility can accommodate less than 100 patients.

Last month, the city turned over the Mandaue City Central School- the city’s biggest isolation unit that could cater to a thousand individuals- back to DepEd, because teachers were already needing it.

Calipayan said there are now only a few remaining beds for COVID-19 patients in the city’s two isolation units.

Calipayan said they will also be hiring additional contact tracers as contact tracing was proven as one of the effective ways to prevent the spread of the virus.

He said aside from vaccination, they will also be reinforcing the health protocols.

Based on the July 19 COVID-19 bulletin of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), Mandaue City has 461 active cases.    /rcg

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