MANILA -- The Department of Health (DOH) reported on Saturday that it has deployed medical teams in all evacuation centers to provide assistance for the victims of typhoon “Ompong”.
“Meron na po kaming mga disinfectants, ito po ay nasa level na ng mga probinsiya sa aming mga provincial offices, meron na po kaming 34 medical teams na nandun na po sa mga evacuation centers (The disinfectants are already in the provincial levels in our provincial offices. We already have 34 medical teams which are already in the evacuation centers),” DOH Field Implementation and Management director Gloria Balboa said in a briefing by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Balboa added that their graphic health assessment teams are still waiting for the surroundings to be totally safe so they can go around and check their damaged health facilities.
“Inaantay na rin po ang pag-activate ng surveillance and post emergency, extreme emergencies and disasters para ma-monitor po agad yung mga sakit ng mga tao lalo na sa evacuation centers para po maagapan ang paglala ng mga sakit na ito (We’re also waiting for the activation of surveillance and post emergency, extreme emergencies and disasters so [we] could monitor immediately those who are sick in the evacuation centers to prevent the spread of these diseases),” she said.
Due to the power outage in some areas, Balboa said they have instructed their regional hospitals to ensure that their standby generators are functional.
“Sa Isabela po meron po tayong regional hospitals doon, mga tatlo po doon, pero siyempre po hindi lamang po DOH hospitals ang aming in-activate, may local government hospitals and private hospitals din po kasi meron po kaming tinatawag na (In Isabela we have regional hospitals there, around three, but of course we activated not just DOH hospitals, there are local government hospitals and private hospitals because we have what we call) service delivery networking where all health facilities are involved which is done in all regions,” she added.
Meanwhile, a representative from the Department of Education (DepEd) reported that 34,568 schools have been affected by typhoon “Ompong”.
DepEd said these schools are in areas with tropical warning signals, class suspensions or schools which are used as evacuation centers.
As of 2 a.m., DepEd said around 257 classrooms in ten regions were used as evacuation centers for 7,472 families and 27, 428 individuals.
To ensure learning continuity in the 39 affected school divisions, DepEd said their funds for learning spaces, learning kits, teachers’ kits and emergency school feeding are on standby.
Together with the DOH, DepEd provides psychological first aid for their personnel and learners who have been affected by the typhoon. (PNA)
