ILOILO CITY – The Sangguniang Panlungsod on Wednesday adopted a resolution placing the city under a state of calamity due to the dengue outbreak.
The City Council also approved three other recommendations by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC), including the lifting of the state of calamity due to pertussis, the declaration of dengue outbreak, and the budgetary requirements for advocacy and response measures.
Councilor Rudolph Jeffrey Ganzon, chairperson of the committee on disaster relief, cited the need to place the city under a state of calamity as dengue cases continue to increase and pose a significant threat to its residents.
“The city is expecting an increase in the number of cases, as updated reports are being gathered by the office of the City Health Officer. The current condition in the barangays requires an urgent need to declare an outbreak so that immediate assistance can be provided by the city government,” the resolution read.
The city has 945 dengue cases, with five deaths as of Aug. 27 from Jan. 1 based on data from the Iloilo City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.
The latest fatality was a 22-year-old man from Jaro district.
There are 62 barangays with clustering of cases and one hotspot. Only Barangay Mohon in Arevalo, out of the city’s 180 villages, has no dengue cases.
The council approved the PHP7.04 million budget for advocacy and response measures. The fund will also be used to buy chemicals for misting, motorized sprayers, dengue duo testing kits, and medical supplies for hydration.
In an interview, City Health Officer Dr. Annabelle Tang said they would like to launch massive misting for vector control.
“Our focus is massive elimination of mosquitoes. We are planning 24 barangays each day once we procure our machines,” she said.
She also appealed for the public to work with the city government by doing cleanup inside and outside their homes. (PNA)
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