HOLIDAY ROWERS | Traffic, crowds and people on queue for a ride on Santa Claus-themed rowboats at Burnham Park characterize Baguio City’s Christmas season in 2022. The influx of visitors suggests people feel safe in the summer capital despite the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by EV ESPIRITU / Inquirer Northern Luzon)
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — Although COVID-19 infections have slowed down, all Cordillera towns and provinces have retained sufficient budgets for 2023 that would respond to emergencies related to the spread of the viral disease, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday.
Local governments are addressing new priorities for the coming year, but all municipalities heeded the DOH’s advice to still prepare for potential surges, said Dr. Rio Magpantay, the DOH Cordillera director.
Baguio City, for example, has suspended the operations of quarantine facilities to reduce spending.
Magpantay said the DOH was assured that these holding areas would automatically be reactivated should infections again rise.
Bracing for crowds
“If I were the local government officials, I certainly would use the budget for what has become priorities next year since we know that COVID-19 cases have dropped as vaccinations have increased,” he said.
But the DOH regional director stressed that no local budgets reflected zero COVID-19 allocations.
“We remind them that the pandemic has not ended [going into its third year] and it might kick up again, and they understand,” Magpantay said.
The medical community is again bracing for crowd-drawing activities like Christmas reunions in the Cordillera, and the return of high-impact events like Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival) in February, said Dr. Donnabel Tubera-Panes, the city epidemiologist.
The DOH recorded 463 active COVID-19 patients in Cordillera as of Dec. 12, with 157 still being treated in Benguet province and 100 in this city.
Nurse Karen Lonogan, a DOH Cordillera epidemiologist, observed a slight decrease in cases from the average 59 cases per day in the previous two weeks to 29 average cases per day.
Most of the infections were contracted by medical personnel and workers, particularly in Baguio City, which has been drawing thousands of weekend visitors.
COVID-19 tests are no longer required at the city borders.
“It is now 2022, not 2020. We have enough armament to protect us, which is the vaccine, and we no longer monitor who tests positive for the virus but people who get hospitalized,” she said.