QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya (January 13)—At least 100 poor families in the upland town of Kasibu were given various food packs including fruit-bearing tree seedlings by a British firm operating in Barangay Runruno in this town.

James Carmichael, FCF Minerals Corp. country manager, said the donation is part of the company’s efforts to reach out even to its non-impact communities through the conduct of Outreach Programs and Environmental Awareness Campaigns.

Carmichael said another non-impact community in Solano town has also benefited with packs of grocery items which was accepted by the Sangguniang Bayan of Solano local government unit for its constituents.

He said the donation aims to help the local government unit of Solano in reaching out to their poor constituents who were heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Carmichael also noted that the donation was made possible through funding from the company’s 2022 Social Development and Management Program or SDMP to help Covid-19-affected communities.

“This is a continuing program assisting local government units in their fight against the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to affect the livelihood of villagers in the province,” he added.

QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya (January 12)—In a move to support the Philippine campaign against the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a British firm here has encouraged all its employees and contractors to receive their jabs for their protection.

James Carmichael, FCF Minerals country manager, said the company has coordinated with the Municipal Health Office (MHO) to come over to Barangay Runruno where it operates to conduct their vaccination program for their employees and contractors.

He said this was spearheaded by the company’s Occupational Safety and Health or OSH department in support of the country’s campaign of achieving herd immunity against the dreaded Covid-19.

On January 12, 2022, Dr. Julie Ann Bingayan, Quezon town municipal health officer, together with her staff came over to FCF Mineral’s medical clinic to conduct a continuation of a series of their mass vaccination program for the company, according to Carmichael.

Bingayan said the vaccination covered first doses, second doses and booster shots which were offered to all FCF employees whether regular or probationary, contractors and subcontractors.

“The vaccination at our medical clinic was for everyone working on site. We encouraged and invited them to avail of the vaccine for their protection from the virus,” Carmichael said.

On January 6, 2022, FCF Minerals also partnered with the Sangguniang Bayan of the neighboring town of Solano in reaching out to their constituents who have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Prioritizing dedicated front liners and marginalized sectors of the community in Solano, FCF Minerals turned over groceries for distribution,” Carmichael said.

He said the help extended was made possible and funded under the 2022 Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) of the company.

In Quirino province, FCF Minerals through its Community Relations Office (CRO) also turned over assorted medicines to the Municipal Local Government Unit of Diffun in support of the operation of their Rural Health Unit on December 22 last year.

The FCF-CRO said the medicines funded under the company’s SDMP, were accepted by Mayor May Garnace Calaunan and municipal health officer Eden Pata for their constituents.

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“The Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Resu) together with the local government of Nueva Vizcaya is conducting contact tracing to identify all people that the Covid-19 patient has come in contact with,” the DoH Region 2 said.

The first recorded Covid-19 Delta variant in Region 2 particularly in Barangay Bagahabag in Solano town (Nueva Vizcaya) was confirmed by the DoH, University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) and UP-National Institute of Health or UP-NIH in its press release no. 2021-08-05-01.

Region 2 comprises the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and the island province of Batanes.

The DoH-Region 2 has strongly reminded the public to know the right information to avoid anxiety and fear among the citizens and that it will also continue to provide additional information on the current investigation of the case.

It said this first recorded Delta variant case had symptoms on July 6 and was confirmed positive of Covid-19 two days after the patient felt itchiness in the throat, colds and difficulty in breathing.

The DoH said the case was declared fully recovered on July 20 and that there were no respiratory symptoms experienced by the patient, who was not yet vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Although the Delta variant spreads faster and is more contagious, the MHPS [Minimum Public Health Standards] and all Covid-19 vaccines continue to demonstrate protection against any type of variants. We have a strong defense against the Covid-19 virus, we are also fully prepared to deal with it if we work together to comply and spread our safety protocols,” the DoH Region 2 said.

“We encourage the public to enjoy the free vaccine for further protection of our community against Covid-19,” the DoH said. LEANDER C. DOMINGO

KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya (June 22)— An Australian mining firm-built first-class isolation facility started accommodating patients specifically those infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the gold and copper deposit rich upland barangay (village) of Didipio here.

According to lawyer Joan Adaci-Cattiling, OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) president, the P10.8 million Didipio Family Health Center (DFHC) was refurbished to serve Covid-19 infected patients at its host community in Didipio and its neighboring areas.

Constructed in 2018, the DFHC was funded by OGPI as one of the company’s commitments to community development in the village, being the host barangay of the company’s gold and copper project that started operation in 2013.

Adaci-Cattiling said the isolation facility which can accommodate up to 15 people with separate room allocations for confirmed cases, suspected cases and close contact individuals is complete with medicine for patients with respiratory problems and equipped with oxygen and rapid antigen test kits. 

“The mining company allocated around P1.6 million for the procurement of equipment, medical supplies and the much-needed repairs of the health facility,” she said.

“OGPI will also allocate one of its company nurses to take special regular duty at DFHC,” Adaci-Cattiling said adding that in collaboration with the barangay local government unit (LGU) of  Didipio, four barangay health workers have already transferred to the newly refurbished DFHC facility.

The initiative to come up with the isolation facility at the DFHC came following the surge of Covid-19 cases in Didipio and neighboring villages soaring up to 147 cases since March. 

In his remarks during the facility inauguration on June 15, this town’s mayor Romeo Tayaban emphasized the importance of an established isolation structure while noting the continuous rising of cases in the Cagayan Valley region.

“Let’s make this DFHC useful for the next generation,” Tayaban said.

DFHC will be operated by the Didipio LGU with the supervision of the municipal health office (MHO) here. 

Dr. Elizabeth Joaquin, MHO chief, said she looks forward to the development of DFHC as a hospital in the future so it can cater to more patients even from other villages in Kasibu town.

Henry Guay, Didipio village acting chairman, said they are now working in coordination with MHO and OGPI on the accreditation of the facility by the Department of Health for access to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth.

Engr. Edgar Rivera, OGPI officer-in-charge, noted the importance of mutual cooperation among the LGUs, community and private sector in overcoming the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“As long as OGPI is here, we continue to work with our stakeholders to provide necessary support in the achievement of their goals,” Rivera said adding especially now that Covid-19 infections continue to create havoc as more areas in the region become areas of concern. 

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (May 30)—The Cagayan provincial government is giving out P4.9 million to all barangay (villages) in Tuguegarao City for the establishment of isolation facilities to solve the problem of home quarantine which is known to have been causing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the city.

During the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, Governor Manuel Mamba confirmed the amount which will be distributed to all the 49 villages in Tuguegarao City at P100,000 for each village.

Mamba said this way Tuguegarao City will be able to slow down or even stop the high rate of local transmission of the disease and causing death so many of those who were infected.

The Tuguegarao City Information Office has recorded a total of 5,287 Covid confirmed cases. The number of active cases is down to 732 with 4,472 recoveries and 83 deaths as of May 17.

Earlier, the provincial government has also allotted P50,00 each for Tuguegarao villages that have recorded a high number of Covid-19 cases and another P100,000 each for the 49 villages, also to combat the spread of the dreaded disease.

As a result, Mamba said there was not much improvement the reason why he is distributing another P100,000 for each barangay to establish their isolation facilities advising barangay councils to make use of schools in their areas for asymptomatic cases. LEANDER C. DOMINGO

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (May 14)—The Department of Health (DOH) Region 2 received today 84,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine.

The vaccines were shipped via plane and were received at the Tuguegarao City Airport.

Following processes and protocols during its arrival, the vaccines were immediately brought to the DOH cold storage facility through the joint efforts of the Tuguegarao City Police Station, the Food and Drugs Administration and the DOH.

Right after the inspection of the vaccines from the cold chain facility, allocated vaccines for Cagayan and Isabela provinces were delivered to the Cagayan Provincial Health Office (PHO), Tuguegarao City Health Office, Isabela PHO and the City of Ilagan Health Office 1 and 2.

As per vaccine allocation for May 14, 2021 concerning the first dose, around 5,540 will be allocated for the above-mentioned health offices. A total of 687 will serve as second doses for those who received the vaccine earlier.

On May 15, 2021, the city health offices of Santiago City and Cauayan City, and the Nueva Vizcaya PHO and Quirino PHO will have their first dose allocation of 1,615, and 353 will serve as second doses.

According to the national Covid-19 Vaccination Operations Center report, as of May 12, 2021, Region 2 was allotted 10,700 doses of AstraZeneca for the first batch and 2,600 for the second batch. A total of 134,780 doses was recorded for both Sinovac and AstraZeneca.

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya (May 11)—The provincial government will be putting up its own reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laboratory to hasten monitoring, detection and treatment of suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients.

Engineer Edgardo Sabado, Provincial Planning and Development Office chief, said the establishment of the RT-PCR laboratory is one of the priority projects to be implemented at the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital (NVPH) in Bambang town this year.

He said this will improve and boost the Covid-19 response of the provincial government through its frontline health workers in its five hospitals in the province and the Department of Health (DoH).

“It will speed up our detection and treatment for our suspected Covid-19 patients so that further transmission of the virus will be further prevented,” Sabado said.

Dr. Edwin Galapon, Provincial Health Office chief, said having a dedicated RT-PCR laboratory in the province will enable health workers to know positive and negative results of suspected Covid-19 patients in a day compared to the two to 7 days period waiting time from laboratories and testing centers outside the province due to a huge number of RT-PCR requests and referrals.

He said the RT-PCR laboratory has already an initial fund of P5 million from the provincial government for the construction of its building.

“The building construction is now up for public bidding while the other equipment and facilities will also be funded so that it will be fully equipped and operational the soonest possible time,” Galapon said.

He added that the Region 2 Trauma and Medical Center(R2TMC) in Bayombong will also put up its own RT-PCR laboratory through the DoH.

Galapon said the RT-PCR laboratory and the P10 million isolation building are some of the major infrastructure projects to be implemented within the NVPH.

Other projects will be the P140 million Charity Ward Building, Medical Arts Building and Waste Water Treatment Facility.

BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya (May 10)—Governor Carlos Padilla received on Monday morning his first dose of Sinovac vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in his office at the Capitol Compound here.

Padilla’s first dose was administered by Nurse King Harold Bautista of Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital in Bambang town.

Bautista said the governor received his vaccine under A2 priority or as a senior citizen and that the governor is scheduled to receive his second dose on June 7 or 28 days after his first dose.

The National Inter-Agency Task Force has also allowed local chief executives belonging to the high-risk areas of coronavirus disease 2029 (Covid-19) to be vaccinated like Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba who received his first dose of Sinovac vaccine on April 12.

Bautista said Padilla went through five steps in the vaccination process such as registration, screening, counseling, vaccination and monitoring.

On April 13, Padilla was discharged from Salubris Medical Center in Solano town in this province after he has fully recovered from Covid-19 infection.

According to Bautista, there was no indication of adverse effects during Padilla’s post-vaccination monitoring.

BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya (May 6)—The provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya assured there is enough supply of food assistance and an additional P4 million worth of family food packs for families severely affected by the pandemic.

Flordelina Granada, provincial social welfare and development (PSWD) officer said family food packs procured by the provincial government will serve the needs of Covid-19 affected villages in different municipalities.

According to Dr. Edwin Galapon, provincial health office chief, the province has recorded 2,563 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the past nine months starting March 1, 2021 but is down to 342 active cases as of May 3.

He said the surge of Covid cases in the province during this period had a positivity rate of 16.47 percent with the highest recorded cases on April 5-11 with 660 cases.