LARENA, Siquijor, Oct. 21 (PIA) -- Integrated Provincial Health Officer-In-Charge Dr. George Walthrode Opay has urged Siqujodnons to strictly comply, implement, and adhere to the protocols set by the government even if the province of Siquijor has been downgraded to Alert Level 3 amid the decreasing cases of COVID-19. 

“For me, it’s a good thing, kay murag sa pagkakarun medyo kampante ko kay medyo ni os-os gyud ang atuang kaso (as of now I feel a bit satisfied because our COVID-19 cases have decreased) but again it shouldn’t make us feel complacent,” Opay said during the Provincial COVID-19 OpCen meeting on Oct. 20.

He said the downtrend in admission and zero mortality as of Oct. 20, which he hopes will continue, should not make the public complacent.

With the province seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the past few weeks, Siquijodnons could not afford a rapid increase in cases. 

The implementation of the Alert Levels System, which has been piloted in the National Capital Region (NCR) and extended by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to selected areas outside the NCR starting Oct. 20 until Oct. 31, placed Siquijor province under Alert Level 3.

Opay said that with the province's adoption of Alert Level 3, there is a possibility of an increase in cases, but added that it would not be a surge unlike before when the province had an average of 10 to 20 admissions in every 12 to 24 hours. 

“We don’t want this. Warning na na siya (it was already a warning), a call for action,” Opay said as he called for a strong compliance, implementation, and adherence to the health protocols in all areas and in all levels of government agencies.

He warned that if the province continues to be lenient, “we might not be able to achieve a happy December which is our goal. We have to avoid COVID’s behavior of natural selection of who can live and who will succumb,” he said.

From Sept. 1 to Oct. 19, the province has recorded 568 active cases, 100 of which were admitted to the Provincial TTMF and 468 in local government unit (LGU) isolation facilities, reaching a total of 2,908 cases from both the RTPCR and antigen tests since the start of the pandemic, according to the report of the Provincial Department of Health (DOH) here.

Of the total 2,908 cases, 1,857 or 63.86% were  recoveries and 138 deaths, of which 126 or 91.30% were unvaccinated.

Tracking the province’s 70% goal or 70,859 of its total population for vaccination, the DOH said the province has vaccinated at least 52% or 36,895 from the province’s 50,403 individuals in the masterlist. 

Opay is optimistic that reaching the goal will fast track with the ongoing DOH and province-initiated vaccination rollout.

He said the medical personnel have been aggressive with the province-initiated vaccination drive which resulted to a number of individuals getting the jabs.

While recognizing that that the LGUs are doing their part, Opay said he wants the province to be aggressive enough to have their own vaccination drive.

He said he has set in place another two or three teams to operate so that vaccination is done daily to achieve herd immunity.

Opay said his goal is to have a happy December, as he strives to fast track the inoculation so that by December, more people will be fully vaccinated. 

“We can almost see the light," he said, indicating that the high vaccination coverage will slow down the number of COVID-19 cases. (RAC/PIA7 Siquijor)