CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuanos who experience COVID-19 symptoms are advised to immediately visit cluster clinics that are located in their barangays.
Going to the hospitals is discourages because this will only add the current congestion of medical facilities in the city, Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said in a statement.
“We offer free swab tests at our cluster clinics for our residents in Cebu City. If you have symptoms like cough, cold, fever, sore throat, and diarrhea, you may go to our cluster clinics for a swab test,” the EOC’s statement reads.
And as promised, the Cebu City government has already reopened more cluster clinics that are located in the barangays to address the rise in COVID-19 cases here.
The surge in new cases has been ongoing for more than two months already, the reason why the city was placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) starting on August 1, 2021.
To increase the monitoring and detection of new cases, the city government reopened cluster clinics that are located at the Cebu City Medical Society (CMS) in Barangay Banilad, the Cebu City Sports Institute Barangay Sawang Calero, and at the Basak San Nicolas Elementary School gym.
The contact numbers of these cluster clinics are as follows:
Medical personnel assigned at the city’s cluster clinics provide free consultation to patients with flu-like symptoms and free swab tests or the real-time polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
“The Cebu City Government through it’s Cebu City Health Department established several Influenza-like Illness (ILI) Cluster Clinics at the different barangays within the city of Cebu,” the EOC said.
Earlier, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) asked individuals with mild symptoms not to go to the hospitals for their medical checkup because health care facilities in the city are now very congested.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama has also promised to reopen more cluster clinics to reduce hospital congestions and at the same time ensure the early detection of cases.
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