DOH-7 urges public to wear face masks this holiday season

The thick crowd at the Carbon Night Market hustle their way for a spot to eat. CDN Digital photo / Rick Gabuya

CEBU CITY, Philippines — With large crowds expected in public places amid the holiday season going to the Sinulog Festival celebration in January 2023, a local health official in Central Visayas is encouraging the public to wear face masks as protection not only against COVID-19 but also from other infectious diseases and influenza-like illnesses.

Dr. Eugenia Mercedes Cañal, cluster head of the Regional Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (Resu)-Department of Health in Central Visayas, in a news forum on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, reminded the public to be wary of other infectious diseases aside from COVID-19 such as the highly contagious measles.

“Dili ta mag mask kung ang atong ventilation maayo o kung naa ta sa open air, but if it’s too crowded, proper wearing of masks should be implemented,” she said.

“It’s not just COVID-19 that we are protecting you from, but other infectious diseases. Wala ta kahibaw, naa diay naay ga measles diha nga bata nga gidala sa mall,” she added.

Cañal noted that measles is highly contagious compared to COVID-19, as the reproduction rate of measles is 18-20 percent.

Moreover, Cañal also reminded the public to eat and drink in moderation this holiday season to avoid triggering illnesses like heart diseases and stroke.

“During this season g’yod, December 25 and 30, daghan g’yod na mga stroke. Daghang ma-admit, probably, because high blood na daan sila, wala pa jud sila nagpakabana sa ilang gikaon,” she said.

COVID-19

Meanwhile, based on the December 26, 2022 data of the DOH-7 COVID-19 tracker, Central Visayas only has a total of 603 active cases.

Majority or 356 of these active cases are from the different provinces in the region, and the remaining 247 active cases were recorded in the highly-urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu.

Screenshot from DOH-7 official website

Cañal noted a decrease in COVID-19 cases in the region despite the recent gathering of crowds in public places, such as malls and terminals.

She attributed this to the protection given by the COVID-19 vaccines.

“Karon, kung makita ninyo sa atong graph, if you visit our COVID-19 dashboard for Region 7, makita nato ang mga waves didto and then towards mga second quarter (of 2022) mura’g nag flattening, but not quite. We still have some peaks, but gamay g’yod siya…We are really decreasing 40 percent of our total cases, if we compare it to 2020 and 2021,” she said.

She, however, said this should not be a reason to be complacent and continued to encourage the community to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

/bmjo

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