No emergency declaration yet

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia would not declare yet a state of public health emergency due to the dengue situation in the city, but assured that he is “monitoring the situation.”

“We still have to find if there is a trend gyud nga padung pa gyud og taas or nag-anam na og kanaog. Pero, I am monitoring closely the situation,” he said.

“So, sa pagkakaron di pa ta angay mo-declare, unless we have the complete data, makita na nato ang trend,” he added.

He said that should the city government declare already a state of public health emergency, it already means that the prevalence of dengue is already widespread.

"We will just put more focus and attention on this particular issue and then, you know, that’s tantamount already to calling it an outbreak. So, kinahanglan naa na tay measures nga himuon kay para ato ning sugpuon ni nga outbreak,” Garcia said.

Per record from the City Health Department, eight have so far died while over 500 have been confirmed to have contracted the disease, the youngest of which was just three years old while the oldest was 78.

Garcia, though, said that even without the declaration, the CHD have already instituted measures to counter the effects of dengue.

Meanwhile, Alaska Elementary School in Barangay Mambaling is set to integrate information education dissemination about dengue in its classes, as a pro-active measure against it, aside from keeping their surroundings clean.

Alaska Elementary School Principal Lunesa Pogoy said they are doing this because it is better be ready than be sorry. — Rowena Capistrano/RHM (FREEMAN)