DOH: 6 health facilities, one health dev’t center damaged due to Typhoon Odette

MANILA, Philippines — Six health facilities and one center for health development (CHD) were damaged due to Typhoon Odette, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Monday.

DOH Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said the severe tropical storm damaged six health facilities in Caraga Administrative Region—three barangay health stations, Madrid District Hospital in Surigao Del Sur, Siargao District Hospital in Surigao del Norte, and the provincial office of the health department in Surigao del Norte.

Aside from this, the CHD in Region VII was also damaged, the DOH official said.

Vergeire also said the cost of damage in health facilities was estimated at P8.3 million.

“Our CHD is in coordination with our central office for situation updates and possible resource augmentation. CHDs also deployed human resources for health and the members of the health cluster to conduct a rapid health assessment and help provide support for ongoing disaster response,” she said in a press briefing.

Vergeire then reminded those in evacuation centers to follow minimum public health standards as the threat of COVID-19 transmission still persists especially amid the latest coronavirus variant, Omicron.

Typhoon Odette, which is reported to be the strongest storm to hit the country this year, first made its landfall in Siargao Island on Thursday afternoon before ravaging other provinces including Cebu, Bohol, and Palawan.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that over 1.8 million people were affected by the typhoon.

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