ROXAS CITY, Capiz (PIA) — The province was declared under the State of Calamity by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Aug. 27, barely two weeks after the dengue outbreak status was formally announced during a Provincial Health Board meeting.
The declaration, recommended by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, is amid the increasing number of recorded dengue cases in the province.
Gov. Fredenil Castro has called the Capiceños to practice and observe discipline as the best cure and solution in the campaign against dengue as he enjoined local media to emphasize the point in their respective programs to collectively curb the increasing dengue cases.
“We will not succeed unless discipline is practiced by our people thru their hygiene and cleanliness,” the governor noted.
Based on the Provincial Dengue Case Bulletin, the province has recorded 2,092 dengue cases including five deaths from Jan. 1 to Aug. 24, 2024 timeline.
The dengue bulletin reported 145 areas with clustering of dengue cases from Aug. 18 to 24.
Clustering refers to the saturation of three or more cases in a certain location for four consecutive morbidity weeks.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ramon Alex Nolasco said there were five confirmed deaths due to dengue and warned residents not to remain complacent because the cases are increasing.
“We also wanted the cooperation of all the local government units, barangay captains and other volunteers in strengthening their role in the aggressive campaign against dengue,” he added.
Nolasco is leading the PHO team in the conduct of fogging, misting and use of larvicide on stagnant waters to kill dengue-carrying mosquitos provincewide.
“We will start our fogging in the Poblacion of every local government unit as the concentration of people is in the town center,” he noted, adding that in the following weeks, mosquito control operations will be conducted in dengue-clustered barangays.
The PHO also conducted a dissemination forum on dengue outbreak management last Aug. 16 to heighten public awareness and mobilized households and communities to do their share in cleaning the surroundings and destroying the breeding grounds for mosquitos. (AGP/AAL/PIA Capiz)
