.

A frontline worker checks the temperature of a passenger in the car at a checkpoint in town.

 

Overseas Mambolenos worried:

Are our families safe from Covid-19?

 

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

 

Overseas Mambolenos and those away from home are worried about their families’ safety against the entry of a new Covid-19 variant called “Delta”.

But the local government has assured it was working fast to vaccinate citizens for added protection.

A resident gets her jab at a vaccination
center in her baranggay.

Already, all the health workers had received the jabs, while those for all Seniors were to come in batches, depending on the dose budget from the provincial unit of the Department of Health (DOH).

Mambolenos have lauded the move of the local government unit (LGU) to first vaccinate the Senior Citizens.

A native of Parang now living in Australia was relieved to know that her 94-year-old mother back home was an on queue for the jab. The elderly, identified only as “Nanay Elvie” was eager to get vaccinated and wanted it “soon”.

The locals’ virus worries were triggered by a spike in cases last month, which listed 36 from the 11 detected in June.A

The jump in July was three times higher than that of last June.

On Monday, the Public Information office reported an increase in the number of residents infected by the virus during the first two weeks of August.

As of Thursday, August 12, seven new cases in Mambulao were reported by the DOH Bicol CHD bringing to 11 the total cases during the first 12 days of August.

But Mambulao Mayor Ariel N Non allayed the fears of his constituents, assuring them that his office is at work to give them all the shields they need against the Delta variant.

He quickly brushed aside the people’s concern, saying that the rise (of 227 percent) resulted from “massive contact tracing and testing” that the LGU carried out last month.

Through “contact tracing”, many asymptomatic persons surfaced and went straight to the town’s isolation facility at the Jomapa Convention Center.

An asymptomatic person is not aware he is a virus carrier. He could spread the virus even at home without knowing it.

“That is why we have to pinpoint them and deal with their disease,” says Non.

“As of now, 20-30 are confined but some would go home soon,” Non told MWBuzz in a text message.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases that were monitored in town from August 1-12 totaled 11.

The LGU strictly enforces its health protocol rules such as social distancing, wearing of facemask and face shields, ban on social and religious gatherings and thorough vehicle checks at the town’s entry point for persons with no proper travel papers.

The LGU health officers have appealed to the people not to come to the jab centers as “walk-ins”, as they will not be handled.

“They will be scheduled for the jabs, this way, they won’t crowd at the vaccination center,” the health officers said.

A strict stay-home mode is in place in Mambulao but many people still prefer to leave their homes on errands.

Many of them have to make a living for the family, or else they go hungry.

Recently, the LGU gave away food “ayuda” to locked-down families to relieve them of their food concerns.

To give more teeth to the protocols, President Rodrigo R Duterte ordered everyone to just stay home to create “a circuit breaker” for the Delta variant.

“Or else, police officers will haul them off back to their houses if they disobeyed,” the President said.

Says a Mamboleno who works at a drug store: “Sumusunod naman and mga tao pero may pangilan-ngilan pa ring mga pasaway … kahit merong napabalitaang nag-positive sa quarantine facility, ligtas kaming mag-anak dahil sinusunod namin ang health protocols… (People obeys but there are still some who are just stubborn … although there was news of someone getting positive at the quarantine facility, we know we are safe as we follow the health protocols).

“The LGU should push its contact tracing job … because the untraced asymptomatic would be silently spreading his virus at home and work without knowing it… that is scary,” says an IT executive based in Baguio City.

A nurse in Ireland has this to say: “I think the LGU is doing its best to prevent or lessen the spread of Covid-19.  But how the people react to the health protocols would be varied as their freedom to move around is curtailed.”

On Monday, Non ordered a thorough contract tracing after an unexpected “rise” this month in the number of locals who tested positive of Covid-19, Public Information Office reported in its Facebook page.

He has ordered the temporary closure of the street between the Roy Padilla Memorial Stadium and the Jomapa Convention Center to check the movements of residents.

The LGU has also deployed security watchmen for a 24/7 security of Mambolenos.

It also made sure that all the needs of those at the isolation facility at Jomapa are adequately provided.

The staff of the Municipal Health Office also monitored the health of the Covid-19 patients.