Baguio maintains Covid-19 testing and tracing capacity despite low cases

Baguio City, Philippines – In spite of the city’s downtrend in cases of COVID-19, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city government shall not be complacent and shall continue its testing capacity and contact tracing effort to control the possible uptick of cases.

“Testing and contact tracing, along with the other strategies we had set in place, had seen us through the surges in cases. We have to maintain high testing capacity and efficient and effective contact tracing for us to be prepared in case more surges occur,” Magalong stressed.

Baguio City Health Services Office, as reported by Public Information Office- City of Baguio, has conducted not below 300 COVID-19 tests for the past weeks.

On Dec. 14, City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo reported that the city’s daily testing average in the past two weeks was 538.

Meanwhile, Magalong underscored the importance of maintaining the testing capacity even as cases are seen to have been significantly decreased in the past few weeks, owing primarily to the high vaccination rate in the city.

“While testing may mean an increased number of cases, we are not bothered because testing helps us determine where the infections are coming from, enabling us to implement measures to prevent more infections and even death. We know our true situation and it is better than having low cases and a false sense of security,” the mayor explained.

The mayor also said the city will maintain its aggressive contact tracing effort with the help from the Dept. of Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, and the Baguio City Police Office.

According to City Epidemiologist Dr. Donnabel Panes, the city maintains its contact tracing efficiency ratio, which is 1 patient to 8 contacts.

As of December 26, the city logged only four active cases with no new confirmed cases.

OTHER NEWS

Cordillera police donates P4.5M from their salary to Typhoon Odette victims

Follow Guru Press Cordillera on Facebook for more News and Information