Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) OIC Regional Director and Chairman of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) for Cordillera Araceli San Jose strongly urged local government units (LGUs) to pass an ordinance regulating the movement of individuals who have not been vaccinated or have only been partially vaccinated in the region due to the threat of the Omicron variant.
She also urged authorities to continue enforcing and the public to continue adhering to minimum public health standards.
“We urge our local chief executives (LCEs) to ensure the consistent implementation of minimum public health standards (MPHS) and to strengthen the implementation of the Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, Reintegrate + Vaccinate (PDITR) strategy. Contact tracing, as well as closely monitoring of adherence to home quarantine and isolation protocols, including daily checking of quarantined individuals in-person or via mobile/telephone must be aggressively pursued,” she said.
It can be recalled that the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) on January 20, 2022 placed the provinces of Kalinga, Ifugao, and Mountain Province under Alert Level 4 due to a surge in COVID-19 infections.
San Jose explained that an escalation to Alert Level 4 means that an area has reached more than 70 percent in healthcare utilization rate, and alarmingly high two-week growth and average daily attack rates (ADAR).
The Department also advised local governments to operationalize and plan for the expansion of their telemedicine services, as well as to widely disseminate contact information to local communities.
Aggressive Community Testing
OIC-RD San Jose stated that local government units (LGUs) can always seek the assistance of the RTF Against COVID-19 and the RIATF through the Office of Civil Defense Cordillera in conducting aggressive community testing (ACT) to further detect COVID-19 carriers.
She also urged LGUs to work with Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) to bring COVID-19 vaccines closer to the people and cover the entire eligible population while also promoting trust in the effectiveness and safety of these vaccines.
(Source: DILG-CAR)