Tubigon mayor William Jao is declaring an implementation of stricter measures to prevent the further spread of the disease in his town.

In a radio interview on “Newsmakers ug Uban Pa” on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, Jao reported that the coronavirus disease (Covid) situation in his town is already “contained”.

Jao admitted to the radio program host and The Bohol Tribune managing editor Ardy Araneta Batoy that his town can be considered as one of the Covid hotspots in Bohol, given the fact that as of Wednesday, the town has recorded seven (7) active community transmission cases including a nurse from the Rural Health Unit (RHU) of the town. The town has a total of 10 active cases, with three (3) cases involving patients with no travel history and are now isolated.

To mitigate the spread of the disease, the mayor has ordered the strict implementation of the quarantine pass or worker’s pass to control the movement among the townspeople.

In a related development, the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) announced that it has already sent an augmentation force to Tubigon to conduct, among others, seaborne patrol off the waters of Tubigon.

In a separate interview, Col. Joselito Clarito said the BPPO is ready to send more troops if needed and if the Covid situation becomes more serious where more forces would be necessary, these forces would help implement the health and safety protocols.

For his part, Jao thanked Gov. Arthur Yap and the BPPO for sending more troops to secure the town including the six (6) island barangays of, namely: Mocaboc, Bagongbanwa, Bilangbilangan, Pangapasan, Batasan and Ubay.

Jao also bared that the police, with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bantay Dagat, have implemented Oplan Kalasag ni Dagohoy Reloaded, which is a plan to secure the borders of northern and western portions of Bohol including Tubigon.

Jao said that Tubigon has an area of 165 square kilometers, and given the large area of the town, there is really a need for an augmentation force especially for border control and seaborne patrol.

Jao added that the provincial government and the BPPO provided five (5) additional personnel to guard possible incursions into the town from Pasil in Cebu City, Tangke in Talisay City, and the town of Minglanilla in Cebu province.

The mayor said in the interview that he already met with all 34 barangay captains of Tubigon urging them to show their political will in imposing discipline among the barangay folks to prevent the spread of the Covid infection.

He admitted, in the same interview, that there are a lot of people who are hard headed and would refuse to follow the health protocols. In fact, the mayor challenged the barangay captains (punong barangay) to step down from their posts if they can’t install discipline among their constituents and simply rely on the local government unit and the law enforcers to implement the protocols.

ORIGIN OF INFECTION

In the same interview, Jao revealed that barangay Pooc Occidental is the point of origin of the infection, even if in some reports, there are also Covid cases recorded in barangay Centro.

The mayor was straightforward in blaiming the people who are used to engaging themselves in drinking sprees using only one (1) glass since this practive could be a possible cause for the transmission of the virus.

As a result of this practice, and as a result of the transmission due to the drinking spree, the local government has imposed a liquor ban.

SUSPENDING OFW, LSI ARRIVAL

As this developed, Jao asks the Regional Inter Agency Task Force (R-IATF) to temporarily suspend the sending of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and locally stranded individuals (LSI) to Tubigon until the end of the month as the facilities in the town are full and would not be able to accommodate additional arrivals. The suspension would also give the town government more time to focus on the sensitive task of containing the community transmission problem.

Moreover, the mayor admitted that the Rural Health Unit (RHU) of the town is short of manpower to take care of more people since eleven (11) health workers are currently under quarantine.This means, the mayor revealed, that there are not enough personnel in the RHU to attend to persons under quarantine.

CONTACT TRACING IS NO JOKE

The mayor also admitted that containing the Covid situation is no easy task. He likened the contact tracing activity to a pyramid scheme with the generations of close contacts acting like downlines that multiply from the upline source.

“Dile komedya ang contact tracing na trabaho,” Jao said during the radio interview.

LATEST CASE

Tubigon registered a community transmission case on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020.

The mayor said that the latest/newest Covid-positive case is a caretaker of an 81-year-old Covid-positive patient also from barangay Pooc Occidental, Tubigon.

RHU TUBIGON STAFF UNDER QUARANTINE

The mayor further admitted that some personnel of the RHU of Tubigon are under quarantine. This is one of the main reasons that the Tubigon RHU is shorthanded as of the moment.

More information from the mayor revealed that a nurse from the RHU tested positive for Covid. The RHU doctors and the Covid-positive nurse went to check a fisherfolk from Batasan Island for Covid infection. The fisherfolk turned out to be negative. However, the nurse, after checking the fisherfolk, developed fever, so the nurse was tested via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ended up with a positive result, Jao narrated during the interview.

As the Covid-positive nurse was with the RHU doctors in Batasan Island, Jao saw the necessity of having said doctors tested for the Covid infection as they were considered as close contacts of the nurse. Luckily, the doctors tested negative for Covid.

Even if the doctors tested negative for the virus, still, these doctors, together with other members of the RHU remain in quarantine and need to complete 14-days of such home quarantine.