April 11, 2020 - Gibutyag sa Department of Health (DOH) sa gipatigayon nga ika-25 press conference sa CdeO City Government nga adunay napulo (10) ka kumpirmado nga kaso sa COVID-19 sa tibuok Region 10. Kini gikan sa pinakaulahing datos sa ahensiya sukad kagahapon, April 10,2020.

 

Matod ni Dr. Ian Gonzales sa DOH-10 nga ang mga positbong kaso gikan sa mga managlahi nga probinsya sa rehiyon:

 

Bukidnon:                                          1 kaso

Camiguin:                                          1 kaso

Lanao del Norte:                  1 kaso

Misamis Occidental:            1 kaso

Cagayan de Oro:                  1 kaso

Iligan City:                                         4 kaso

 

Giambit ni Gonzales nga wala’y mga bag-ong natala nga mga PUIs gumikan sa mga kabag-ohan nga gibuhat sa surveillance.

 

Base sa Case Tracker, wala na nagareport sa PUI kay naa nay changes sa (1) surveillance system (2) coordinating mechanism at the national and regional level,”

 

Gibatyag usab niya ang lain pang mga kabag-ohan nga gibuhat sa national og local government unit alang sa pag-respondar sa COVID-19.

 

Ang Inter-Agency Task Force napulihan na sa Regional Task Force for COVID-19. Ang lead agency na sa response kay ang OCD and DILG. When it comes to data sa local government, sa DILG na gikan ang data karun.”

 

Sa pagkakarun, aduna nalang pito (7) ka pasyente ang padayon gi-atiman sa Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) kung asa ang usa (1) positbo gihapon sa COVID-19 ug ang nabilin nga unom (6) kay naka recover na.

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April 9, 2020 – Adunay duha (2) ka PUI ang kasamtangan karon nga gi-admit sa Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) base sa gibutyag ni NMMC Medical Director Dr. Jose Chan sa ika-24 na press conference nga gipatigayon sa lokal nga kagamhanan sa Cagayan de Oro alang sa COVID-19.

 

Ang mga nadugang nga PUI kay bana (56 anyos) ug anak (16 anyos) ni PH 598 nga una nang na-discharge ug kasamtangang ga-home quarantine.

 

Pinaagi sa swab test, nahimbaw-an nga pareho sila nga positibo sa COVID-19 adtong April 8.

 

Apan sa repeat test sa duha karong adlawa, nag-negatibo ang bana ni PH 598 sa COVID-19.

 

Silang duha padayon nga gi-admit sa NMMC. Stable na pod ang kondisyon sa ilahang anak.

 

Ang mga naduggang nga mga PUI sa NMMC pareho nga dili residente sa CdeO.

 

Sa pikas bahin, gibutyag usab ni Chan nga duna sad duha (2) nga dugang nga nag-negatibo sa COVID-19.

 

Sa kinatibuk-an, adunay walo (8) ka pasyente ang kamulong ginatambalan sa NMMC diin ang upat kay positibo sa COVID-19.

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Health experts in Cagayan de Oro City have once again clarified in a press conference today, April 9, that the city is not yet COVID-free as some reports claimed on social media.  

 

“This is not yet the right time to declare a certain place as COVID-free,” warned Dr. Lorraine Nery of the City Health Office. “We should not declare anything as COVID-free even at the barangay level.”

 

Nery said the public should be wary about reports claiming that our city or the region to be free from this global pandemic.

 

“We have to wait for the appropriate agencies, such as the Department of Health, for those kinds of declarations,” she said.

 

Dr. Ian Gonzales, head of the Infectious Disease Cluster of the Department of Health - Northern Mindanao, clarified that when the DOH said “contained” it only meant “that no new cases from the city have been registered or that the test results that arrived turned out to be all negative.”

 

“The DOH never said that we should be complacent in dealing with COVID-19 in our region,” Gonzales said. “We keep on telling the public to stay vigilant and to practice interventions to avoid the spread of the virus.”

 

The call of the health professionals has been amplified as Dr. Jose Chan of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) revealed at today’s presscon that two new COVID-19 patients have been admitted to the provincial hospital.

 

The two new patients, who are not residents of Cagayan de Oro, are said to be the 56-year-old husband and 16-year-old child of Patient 598.

 

According to Chan, the result of the repeat test released today indicated that the husband of Patient 598 is now negative.

 

NMMC continues to closely monitor the said new COVID-19 patients along with the current ones in the regional referral hub.

 

Gonzales earlier cautioned the public to validate the sources of the information they share on social media to avoid misleading people or causing panic.

 

“Let us remember that when we consume information from the internet, we should validate the source,” he said, “Always check the official websites.”

 

This Lenten season, City Mayor Oscar Moreno also reminded the Kagay-anons to practice self-reflection at home instead of going outside.

 

“We encourage everyone to stay at home,” Moreno said, “This is only a small sacrifice that we are asking the public to make this Holy Week.” 

 

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April 8, 2020 — Experts from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have recently conducted site inspections and initially reported that Region 10 has adequate facilities for COVID-19 testing.

 

According to Dr. Ian Gonzales, head of the Infectious Disease Cluster of the Department of Health - Northern Mindanao, they started the inspections yesterday with the Tuberculosis (TB) Reference Center and today with the COVID-19 regional referral hospital, the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC).  

 

“So far, the initial reports tell us that we have adequate facilities for COVID-19 testing, because we have a TB facility already that is capable of handling airborne pathogens,” Gonzales said in a press conference on Wednesday, April 8, at the City Hall.

“What we still need to work out are the training of staff and the availability of the machines because so far our machines from the TB lab are not compatible for COVID testing,” he added.

The final findings of the inspections will be given at the end of the week. 

 

In the meantime, Gonzales reminded the public to continue practicing simple individual interventions to avoid the spread of the virus, such as maintaining physical distance, washing of hands regularly, wearing of a mask when sick or when going to crowded places, and staying at home as much as possible.

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Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno cautioned Kagay-anons against mass gatherings for the celebration of the Easter Sunday on April 12 to keep the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from spreading in the region.

 

During a press conference on Wednesday, April 8 at the City Hall, Moreno asked the Kagay-anons to avoid going to the beaches and other forms of large gatherings that might put their health and safety at risk.

“We still prohibit convergence of people, we still prohibit mass gatherings,” Moreno said in Binisaya*. “We are asking the public for their understanding and for a little sacrifice.”

 

Moreno described this global pandemic as the “new normal” but he hopes that this is only temporary.

 

“This virus has changed our lives and … this is what we call as the ‘new normal,’ but hopefully, this is only temporary. Please stay at home. This is only a small sacrifice that we have to make.”

 

Moreno added: “We may have gotten used to going to the beach every Easter Sunday, but there will convergence of people, which will be violative of social distancing or physical distancing. I request the public to avoid going to crowded places for now.”

 

The CDO mayor is optimistic that when the virus has been contained in the national and global levels, we can all celebrate in time.

 

“Once we have won over this virus, the time to celebrate will be soon. We are doing everything we can in order to shorten this new normal. We understand this is not an easy task, so we are asking everyone to make this sacrifice and all of us will emerge as winners soon.”

 

Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) spokesperson P/Maj. Ivan Viñas assured the public that they have police personnel who have undergone medical training, equipped to respond against COVID-19 and to keep the peace and order in the city this Holy Week.

 

Dr. Ian Gonzales, head of the Infectious Disease Cluster of the Department of Health – Northern Mindanao, also warned the public against some information circulating on the internet claiming possible cures for COVID-19.  

 

“Let us remember that when we consume information from the internet, we should validate the source,” he said, “Always check the official websites.”

 

Gonzales reminded the public to continue practicing simple individual interventions to avoid the spread of the virus, namely:

  1. Maintain physical distance.
  2. Keep doing hand hygiene (wash your hands or use alcohol).
  3. Wear a mask if you are sick or when you are going to crowded places

 

“We do understand the behavior of the virus, the spread is through droplet transmission, so keep washing your hands, keep maintaining physical distance, [and] stay at home if you have no important thing to do outside.”

 

Gonzales also encouraged parents to think of ways to prevent their family members from unnecessarily going outside to avoid the outbreak from spreading any further and help flatten the curve.

 

“The frontline is not just in the hospital,” Gonzales said, “The real frontline should be at the home of every Filipino.”

 

 

*Original quotations were translated to English from Binisaya to reach a wider audience.

 

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Monday, 06 April 2020 05:04

RITM, WHO experts to inspect NMMC labs

Experts from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) and World Health Organization are set to inspect the laboratories in Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) according to DOH Region 10 during the press briefing on April 6 at the Mayor’s Office.

Dr. Ian Gonzales, representing the DOH 10 said that the inspection aims to check the capability of NMMC in facilitating COVID-19 testing in the region. As of the moment, swab tests in NMMC are brought to Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao for testing.

 

Dr. Gonzales expresses hope that the region can be capable enough to hold testing, saying, “Paabuton nato na soon, basin makaya na nato mag test dinhi sa Rehiyon 10.”

 

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Epidemiologist from the City Health Office, Dr. Joselito Retuya, reports breakthroughs with regards to contact-tracing and house-to-house surveys for COVID-19 cases during the April 6 press conference at the Mayor’s Office.

 

The contact-tracing, which is done via phone call, started with the PUIs admitted in NMMC. From here, a line list is created. As of the time of the press con, from the 26 PUIs seen from NMMC, only eight (8) are left to follow-up their contacts.

 

Health officials and volunteers also continue with the house-to-house survey, and this time they have included health center staff, midwives, nurses and doctors in validating and verifying as well.

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April 6, 2020- In today’s press conference, Dr. Lorraine Nery, Officer-in Charge of the City Health Office (CHO) updates on the Covid-19 cases and the city’s ongoing efforts in combating the virus.

According to Dr. Nery, from February 5 to April 5 there had been 1,337 cases of Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs), with 1,325 completing their prescribed quarantine period and 12 still being monitored. Meanwhile, there are three (3) Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) with mild symptoms that are still being monitored.

On top of that, the city has also set-up Four (4) Community Isolation Units (CIUs) have been set-up along with the already established 72 Barangay Isolation Units (BUIs). Among these CIUs include national high schools under the orders of the Department of Education (DepEd) and some colleges and universities as well. This is in preparation incase hospitals like NMMC and J.R. Borja reach surge capacity.

Dr. Nery also pointed out that operations will not stop during the holy week, “Supposedly mao ni ang panahon na murag nagapahulay tanang mga tao, pero ang virus wala man nagapahulay wala pud ga-undang.” They will be keeping the CDRR Operation Center and their hotlines open 24/7.  

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Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno responded to a proposal of a doctor’s group for an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the city in a 3-page document dated April 3.

 

In his letter, Moreno emphasized that while he agrees to the points raised by the medical experts, IATF guidelines suggest that LGUs are to abide directives from the Department of Health and the Department of Interior and Local Government when it comes to the “imposition of general and enhanced community quarantine.”

 

He further explained that imposing an ECQ is not as easy as it seems. In his press briefing on Friday at the Mayor’s Office, he explained, “Every measure that you impose give rise to certain consequences and those consequences would lead to the greater disruption of the people. Ang akong gusto unta kaning community quarantine would be sufficient enough para na mabuntog na nato ang virus,” he added.

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P/Major Ivan Viñas, spokesperson of Cagayan de Oro City Police Office in a press briefing held at the Mayor's Office on Friday, April 3,  updated that since the implementation of curfew hours in the city, a total of 80 people has already been apprehended.

 

Viñas further said that most of these people are already of legal age. He said, “Taas ang rason sa mga indibidwal na dili essential ang ilang tuyo munang sila gyapun gidala sa kabuhatan sa kapulisan.” (Most of these people were brought to the police station because their reasons for being out is considered non-essential). Viñas assured though that most of the violators were allowed to go back from their respective homes after 5 in the morning.

 

Cagayan de Oro City imposed a city-wide curfew from 10PM to 5AM since March 17 as part of the city’s precautionary measures against COVID-19.

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