No Covid-19 positive in Legazpi since Christmas

By Mar S. Arguelles

Legazpi City has registered zero Covid-19 cases for 10 consecutive days since Christmas day, making a significant achievement in the city’s campaign in curbing the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the City Interagency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Disease (CIATF) said on Monday, Jan. 4.

Mayor Noel Rosal, CIATF chairperson, said that aside from recording zero incidence of Covid-19 positive for 10 consecutive days from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3, the city also registered 373 recoveries or 95 percent from the 389 positive cases with only 16 or 4 percent deaths recorded since March 17 last year.

Rosal said having zero Covid-19 cases for the past ten days including the zero active cases was a significant breakthrough for the city due to the efficient management of the CIATF as well as community cooperation in pursuing strict health protocols.

Among the health protocols being strictly enforced in the city include the close monitoring of the arrivals of Local Stranded Individuals (LSIs) and Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APOR) in the airports, ports, terminals, and villages where these LSIs and APOR undergo profiling, assessed and swab tested.

These perons also have to undergo 14-day quarantine. If found positive of the virus, those with serious cases would be admitted to the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BTTTH).

For those who are asymptomatic, they would be placed in isolation at either the Ibalong Center for Recreation, the city’s designated isolation facility or accredited hotel or undergo home quarantine where the person would be isolated in a room to be strictly monitored by village officials.

Border checkpoints have been also established in five strategic areas located at the Legazpi Domestic airport, Barangays Padang, Taysan, Bogtong, and at Ems Barrio.

A barangay active Covid-19 cases alert system was also set up where five-color flags (white, green, yellow, orange and red) are raised signifying the Covid-19 status of each barangay.

As of Jan. 3, 2021, there are nine villages under the white flag, meaning no known Covid-19 case was recorded since March. The rest of the city’s barangays are under the green flag, meaning no active Covid-19 cases in these areas.