This Is How Baguio Is Coping with COVID-19

Last April 10, 2020, Baguio City had to put 4 barangays on lockdown after the province confirmed its first COVID-19 case in 13 days. The City of Pines last confirmed its 14th case on March 28, 2020. Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said that residents from the Upper and Lower Dagsian, Hillside, and Scout Barrio may only be allowed to leave their homes to buy essential items. The city is currently tracing everyone who might have been in contact with the new victim. Baguio now has 15 cases in total, including one death.

All the residents in Baguio City now have restricted movements and are observing a 24-hour curfew due to the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine. Essential personnel or people working in emergency frontline services, border control, and other critical services are the only ones allowed to leave their homes. Curfew hours for these critical personnel is from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM.

Checkpoints are also strictly enforced, and all modes of transportation are suspended. Residents with no private cars can ask their respective barangay officials to arrange a taxi or a public utility jeepney ride to get to work, the grocery, or the market. However, only one person per household should occupy the taxi and PUJs must only be half-filled in observance of social distancing. A barangay passage and travel notification form will be filled out for this purpose. Special taxi services will also be provided to those in need of emergency medical care, and special permits will also be issued for this purpose.

The province will lift up the number coding scheme strictly for the vehicles used by medical personnel and those on health services only. Cargo trucks that carry essentials will be allowed to pass in and out of the province, given that these vehicles are subject to strict sanitation methods and practices. All establishments that provide basic necessities such as groceries, supermarkets, pharmacies, and the like will remain operational.

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong also issued an executive order (EO) that requires all Baguio City residents to always wear face masks and other similar protective gear when leaving the safety of their homes. Under the EO, people who are not wearing face masks will not be accepted and entertained by establishments. The following types of face masks may be used when going outside:

• N95 face masks

• Surgical face masks

• FFPI or Filtering Facepiece masks

• Activated Carbon masks

• Sponge masks

• Cloth masks

Aside from wearing face masks, other precautionary measures such as strict hygiene, sanitation and disinfection practices, and social distancing must also be observed.

With the help of modern technology, Baguio City is now making use of an artificial intelligence-powered CT scanner to fast track the testing for COVID-19 cases in the province. The AI COVID-19 Analyzer was developed by Chinese tech giant Huawei, and it can diagnose COVID-19 cases in just 7 minutes. Baguio has also set up 20 sanitation tents in various medical facilities, and have started to reduce foot traffic in markets which are known to be the places of easy virus transmission.

The city has also reopened and converted Sto. Nino Hospital into a critical care unit that will accommodate COVID-19 patients. April 14 is the target date for the hospital to be up and running. Rooms will be prepared in case the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center runs out of capacity. The BGHMC, on the other hand, has been officially designated as a COVID-19 regional center and is obligated to take in patients from other regions.

The battle against the global pandemic continuously rages across the country, which is why Baguio came up with a contingency plan to sustain the supply of vegetables in the city. The City Veterinary and Agricultural Office (CVAO) distributed repacked vegetable seeds for the establishment of “survival gardens” as an emergency response to the pandemic. Sixteen identified cultural barangays were already given seeds for free, but other barangays may request for seeds, as long as they show proof that they are ready for planting. Individuals may request for seeds as well, given that they have proof that they are also ready for planting. Barangay representatives may get free seeds from the CVAO from Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Go to Yoorekka for more COVID-19 updates in Baguio.