DAGUPAN CITY – Mayor Marc Brian Lim is eyeing the holding of the famous Bangus Festival next year if the vaccination rate of residents here will reach 90 percent and the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) active cases continue to plummet without new variants of concern.
“Looking further, if we can inoculate 90 percent by the month of April next year or 95 percent and we can see that there will be no new variant of concern that will enter the country and we would be able to decrease the active cases, I think we need to consider, if we will be allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the Department of Health (DOH), to celebrate the Bangus Festival 2022,” Lim said during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday.
He said the inoculation rate in the city is now above the 70-percent target with over 140,000 vaccine doses deployed.
“This is to the credit of the Vaccination Team, the vaccination drive being done by the Region 1 Medical Center, the vaccinations being done by private hospitals and businesses,” he said.
Lim also cited the decreasing trend in the number of active cases in the city.
He said as of November 13, there are only 27 active cases in the city, which is much lower compared to the 1,100 on the first week of October.
“Prior to August, I think our fatality rate was somewhere at four percent. But, despite the surge, we were able to decrease it to 2.4 to 2.5 percent because of all your efforts,” he said.
Lim also announced that the city is now under Alert Level 2 as declared by the IATF on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“This December, this Christmas season, or holiday season, I think we will have a merrier Christmas. Because of lower cases, I think Dagupeños, even ‘homecoming Dagupeños, will be able to spend more time with their families and friends. I think the feeling of freedom from the lesser restrictions will be felt by many people,” he said.
He expressed hope this will translate to more economic activities in December.
“Perhaps, we can lessen some of the other restrictions not included with the guidelines of the new alert level status and the hope that it will spur the economic activity of the restaurants, markets, public transportation. Hopefully, all of them will be having a good Christmas in terms of their income,” Lim said.
Nonetheless, he encouraged the residents to still abide by the public health protocols to prevent future surges of Covid-19 cases. (PNA)
