LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – A marathon testing on October 29 and 30 was set in the two towns of Benguet, which are currently experiencing a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases involving miners, the Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) said on Tuesday.
Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, assistant regional director of DOH-CAR, said the Office of ACT-CIS Partylist Representative and Benguet Caretaker Eric Yap has scheduled the mass testing of 1,500 persons in Itogon and 700 in Tuba, two of the three mining towns in this province apart from Mankayan.
The processing of the samples will be done at the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) and the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC).
This is aside from the ongoing marathon testing of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) in Baguio City, where Tuba was allotted 200 test kits and 400 for Itogon.
Both towns were tagged when a surge of cases started last October 22. Itogon’s cases soared by 625 percent, from only 21 cases as of October 11 to 164 total cases on October 25. On the other hand, Tuba recorded a 187 percent increase with 131 cases on October 25 from only seven cases from March to October 11.
The spike was the result of the free testing facilitated by the mining companies to look at the situation after a few positive cases were recorded among the sector.
The ACT-CIS marathon testing also has 800 test kits for La Trinidad, Sablan -100, and Kapangan -100; and Baguio with 2,300.
On the other hand, BCDA’s ongoing marathon testing from October 27 to 30 has 3,000 tests for Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay, and Kapangan (BLISTT-K).
Based on the DOH-CAR Covid-19 tracker, Cordillera has 3,231 cases as of October 25. Of the number, Benguet province has 869 cases, the second-highest in the region after Baguio City which has 1,914 cases.
As of October 25, Benguet has a testing rate of 6.3 percent for its 478,334 population.
Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan, during the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (PIATF) meeting on Monday, said they are expecting more cases to be registered especially with the ongoing mass testing.
History of cases among miners
Dr. Antonette Agpas, Medical Officer 1 of the Provincial Health Office, said the first Covid-19 case among miners in Itogon was recorded in Barangay Ampucao on August 1 where the patient was tested post mortem. The second case was on September 23, then three cases on October 2 to 7. On October 16, three more cases were recorded, 23 on October 20, and eight on October 21.
Tuba’s case involving miners was on July 24 and 29 where the three patients have a history of travel. Several cases were recorded starting October 10 until October 23.
On October 23, Benguet recorded the highest positive cases with 93. There were 33 on October 24, 73 on October 25, and 80 on October 26.
Governor Melchor Diclas, in a press briefing on Monday afternoon, said they have converted bunkhouses of miners to Covid facilities with the help of the mining companies. Each facility’s floor is devoted to specific use — as an isolation facility for positive patients or as a quarantine area for the close contacts and the suspected cases.
Diclas said the province is asking the help of the Department of Education (DepEd) for the use of halls inside the Baguio Teachers Camp as their isolation facilities considering the urgency of the need for spaces where they can bring those tested positive for Covid-19.
“Building isolation facilities require time and we are in urgent need (of) it. Right now, we do not have the luxury of time,” he said, adding that the municipal governments have been advised to assure the readiness of their isolation facilities considering the uptrend of cases.
The DOH is also setting its eyes on Mankayan town wherein cases leaped by 450 percent, or from two cases as of October 11 to 13 on October 25. **By Liza Agoot, PNA
