Baguio tightens movement again as COVID-19 cases rise to 44

LIFE in Baguio City has again become complicated with coronavirus cases rising to 44 over the weekend. VINCENT CABREZA

BAGUIO CITY — A total lockdown has once again been enforced on Sundays in the summer capital after the number of infected Baguio patients rose to 44 as of Monday, July 27.

Fifteen residents were added to the list of people who contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Sunday, July 26, prompting the city government to restore a policy limiting households to two market days and shopping mall days each week to control movement.

Baguio’s borders have also been tightened and will require people, who have essential work or business transactions in the city, to submit to medical examinations at the nearest checkpoint triage, according to an advisory issued by Mayor Benjamin Magalong.

The mayor said the city’s health system is prepared to deal with the rise in transmissions and would continue the process of testing ten percent of all Baguio sectors to help determine the extent of contamination in Baguio.

Baguio remains under modified general community quarantine, but Magalong urged businesses to conduct routine disinfection procedures. The Baguio City Public Market would be closed on Sundays for an extensive cleaning, he announced.

“Three weeks ago, we already sensed a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city… As early as June, we were conducting expanded testing of ten percent of each sector (and detected) the trend of rising cases,” Magalong said during the flag-raising ceremony here. Each time tests are made, seven percent turn out to be infected, “which is alarming,” he said.

The mayor said 26 percent of these cases “are frequent travelers.” He said 40 percent of the new cases were tracked down through contact tracing, while “43 percent were identified through expanded testing.”

All residents have been enjoined to inform their barangay leaders should they, or any of their family members, experience flu-like symptoms so village health workers could test them for the virus, Magalong said.

LZB