Pasay City Hall (file photo)
MANILA – The number of barangays (villages) placed under localized enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Pasay City has reached 55 due to the continuous surge of Covid-19 cases.
The officials of the Pasay City government alongside Pasay City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) on Wednesday inspected the ground situations in Barangay 183 (Villamor), one of the 55 villages under localized ECQ.
The city's public information office (PIO) said it has ramped up contact tracing efforts to contain the further spread of the dreaded virus among residents residing within the Covid-19 high-risk communities.
Among the Pasay City villages now under localized lockdown are barangays 28, 29, 32, 40, 57, 58, 66, 68, 71, 76, 81, 95, 98, 100, 107, 109, 118, 122, 132, 135, 136, 143, 155, 156, 159, 162, 175, 177, 178, 183, 190, 192, 201, 171, 7, 8, 14, 20, 26, 36, 51, 59, 65, 74, 90, 96, 99, 110, 111, 116, 131, 161, 188, 193, and 194.
During the inspection, CESU head Miko Llorca said the localized community quarantine will only be implemented in streets and households that are high-risk of Covid-19 infection.
He added that each barangay that will record more than three Covid-19 cases will be placed under localized ECQ.
Pasay City has recorded additional 83 new cases on Feb. 18, while 100 new cases have been logged on Feb. 20, increasing the city's total confirmed cases to 395 as of 1 p.m. on Feb. 24.
In an online meeting with the IATF authorities, Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano said the city government has intensified its efforts to curb the Covid-19 cases in Pasay.
Around 335 contact tracers are now working double time to identify all people that a Covid-19 patient has come in contact with in the last two weeks, she added.
Rubiano has already requested the IATF for additional nurses and contact tracers to augment the city's contact tracing efforts.
She said the city government's contact tracing team now operates with the ratio of one contact tracer per 1,330 residents,
“We really need more personnel and equipment such as health kits and personal protective gear to conduct a city-wide contact tracing activity,” Rubiano said. “We need to have the victims’ friends and relatives tested.”
The city also continues its mass testing efforts amid the spike in the Covid-19 cases.
“Tests are carried out even during holidays and weekends,” Rubiano said.
Vehicles are also available to ferry and transport residents scheduled for Covid-19 testing to the testing facilities.
The city said the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities located at the Pasay Sports Complex, MOA Reclamation Area, and the grounds near Folk Arts Theater are in full-alert status and fully operational.
Some 264 individuals are currently housed in these facilities.
Residents affected by the localized enhanced community quarantine are provided with food supplies weekly, while the Covid-19 patients are isolated from the communities. (PNA)
