Vico cautions public vs. complacency amid Covid curve flattening

Sotto said the city government has recently recorded 40 newly recovered Covid-19 patients housed from the Pasig centralized quarantine facility. (File Photo: Vico Sotto/Facebook)

MANILA – Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Monday cautioned the public not to be complacent even if experts say the country has flattened the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) curve.

“Alam nating anytime pwede magspike up ulit ang kaso kaya habang maganda ang bilang, dapat lalo tayong nag iingat, dinodoble pa natin ang pag-iingat natin (We know that anytime, there’s a possibility that cases will spike, so while the number of cases is pretty good, we should be more careful, we should be doubling our vigilance),” he said in a Facebook live as he provided updates on the city government’s response against the pandemic.

Sotto said the city government has recently recorded 40 newly recovered Covid-19 patients housed from the Pasig centralized quarantine facility.

“Medyo maganda ang bilang, bumababa yung mga active cases, tumataas pa rin yung kumpirmado pero mas marami pa rin yung gumagaling so maganda pong balita ‘yan (The number is pretty good, the active cases are decreasing, the confirmed cases are still increasing but there are patients who are recovering from the disease, so it’s good news),” Sotto said.

“Ngunit kapag gumaganda ang bilang, gumaganda ang numero, gumaganda ang datos, dapat mas lalo tayong nag-iingat (While the number of cases and the data are getting better, we still need to be more careful),” he added, noting there is still a long battle versus the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other updates

Further, Sotto said the data migration for the city’s newly developed patient information management system application is already completed and set to be functional this week.

Sotto said the city government will run a pilot test on the app registration for quick response (QR) codes system and contact tracing app.

“Pero hindi pa natin irerequire ito hangga’t hindi natin nakikita na smooth yung pagtakbo ng sistema ng bagong app (In the meantime, we will not require the use of this app unless we see the system is running smoothly),” he said.

While the system is online-based, he said the city government will also provide QR codes for those who do not have smartphones.

“We (will) print a QR code for you,” he said.

Sotto earlier said the application could speed up the medical interventions and treatment capacity of the local government amid the health crisis.

On the other hand, Sotto announced that the city government is scheduled to distribute tablets and laptops to public school students and teachers beginning October 1.

The turn-over activity will be held on September 30, he said.

Sotto said transferees and late enrollees will also be receiving the gadgets which they can use for the blended learning modality.

“This will be a pretty difficult school year since it’s our first time conducting this blended learning, but you can count on the support of the local government,” he said.

Sotto, meanwhile, said the local government is already arranging the polices for the city’s hemodialysis ordinance to help more dialysis patients on their medications.

“Ang gagawin po natin dito sa ordinansa, ‘pag naubos mo na ‘yung 90 sessions mula sa Philhealth, sasagutin po ng city ‘yung remaining 66. Para po ito sa mga nangangailangan (What we will do here with the ordinance, when you have already completed the 90 sessions shouldered by the PhilHealth, the remaining 66 will now be shouldered by the city. This is for those who are in need),” Sotto explained. “Definitely, by the end of the year, this will be implemented.”

Sotto said the city government is still organizing the policies and processes on how to avail of the program benefits under the ordinance.

The city government is yet to finalize the policies and will post it as soon as they are already finished.