BRIEFING AND OPEN FORUM ON NCOV INITIATED BY CITY GOVERNMENT FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS

NEWS | 2020/02/21 | LKRO

BRIEFING AND OPEN FORUM ON NCOV INITIATED BY CITY GOVERNMENT FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS

KIDAPAWAN CITY – THE CITY GOVERNMENT HERE initiated a Briefing, Open Forum and Press Conference on the Novel Corona Virus or nCOv in an effort to educate the public on preventive measures needed and allay fears of possible spread of the disease.

City Mayor Joseph Evangelista invited a medical expert to shed matters concerning nCOv in the said briefing at the City Convention Center on February 11, 2020.

Invited guest who shared vital information on nCOv is Dr. Thaddeus A. Evangelista, MD, an expert in Infectious Diseases who lectured participants mostly coming from local and barangay health services providers.

Among other credentials, Dr. Thaddeus has a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases from the Children’s Medical Center and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. He is also a Fellow of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines. He also holds a Master in Science in Clinical Tropical Medicine from Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Thaddeus emphasized that the City Government and local health service providers need to strengthen preventive measures against nCOv.

In his lecture, Dr. Thaddeus attributed the transmission of nCOv from exotic food markets in Wuhan, China as the culprit of the disease.

It was learned that those infected ate exotic meats from bats, pangolin and other wild life species sold in the wet market in Wuhan.

It spread rapidly from droplets of those infected due to the heavy volume of air travel from Wuhan to other countries, the Philippines included though aerosolized transmission was not discounted.

There were three confirmed cases and one fatality due to nCOv and all are Chinese tourists who contacted the disease before arriving in the country, the DOH said.

Patients travelling from China must be monitored for symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.

If one manifests these symptoms, a strict quarantine needs to be done to contain the possible spread of nCov.

The public should not panic if there are “Persons Under Monitoring” or PUMs due to travel history from China and other nCov countries but have not manifested symptoms, local authorities assured.

There are already twelve (12) PUMs due to nCov in Kidapawan City.

Dr. Thaddeus also revealed that a respiratory or face mask need not be worn by everyone. Health providers who handle nCov infected patients and the latter, who must wear the respiratory mask to avoid the spread of the virus, are prioritized for use of face masks. Proper handwashing will further help prevent the spread of nCov.

City Councilor Maritess Malaluan, Chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Health meanwhile assured the public that she will draft a legislative measure to institutionalize a Task Force that will work in the prevention of nCov and other infectious diseases.

Both City Health Officer Dr. Jocelyn Encienzo and City Information Officer Atty. Jose Paolo Evangelista assured the public that the City Government is doing its part to ensure the containment of possible nCov transmission by providing hand sanitizers and thermal scanners in venues where the activities for the 22nd Charter day are situated. # # (cio/ajpme/lkro)