Cagayan de Oro City Hall is continually leveling up its efforts to ensure that every Kagay-anon arrival is safe, healthy, and COVID-19 free by the time he or she comes home, Mayor Oscar Moreno said Saturday (July 18).

“At first it was difficult, there were gaps in coordination and communication due to the unpredictability of the schedules,” Mayor Moreno said during Saturday noon’s press briefing.

“Passengers on sweeper flights would arrive at ungodly hours like 9PM to 2-3AM, and we have to make sure they have rooms (for their quarantine).”

Eventually City Hall´s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) through their Humanitarian Cluster adjusted and streamlined their operations in handling the Kagay-anon arrivals. “So far, we are on top of the ballgame, we know how many occupants in any given day and so on,” Mayor Moreno said.

Mayor Moreno thanked Paul Douglas “Rocky” Calingin, executive overseer of the City Agricultural Productivity Office who heads the humanitarian cluster, for spearheading the handling and processing of Kagay-anon arrivals from the airport, seaport, and land terminals to the holding areas and straight to the city isolation units.

“I also thank the City Health Office (CHO) and other City Hall departments as well as Congressman Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy (CDO 1st district) and his Team Klarex staff, Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya and his Team Nacaya staff, Councilor ‘Girlie’ Balaba and her staff, Councilor Malou Gaane and her staff for providing assistance to our operations 24/7,” Mayor Moreno said.

As of July 16, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao has risen to 373. Out of the total positive cases, 330 came from Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) or Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Positive cases in Cagayan de Oro City alone reached 108 (actual count); 84 of which are LSIs/ROFs. Figures from CDO also indicated 64 out-patients, 32 recoveries, 6 deaths, and 1 currently admitted at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), the region's COVID-19 referral hub.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has placed the entire Region 10 under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) status until July 31, 2020.

The MGCQ status is the transition phase between GCQ and New Normal when the following temporary measures are relaxed and become less necessary: (1) limiting movement and transportation, (2) the regulation of operating industries, and (3) the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.

See graphs for more details.

#CDOCOVID19Response #NagkahiusaBatokCOVID19
#iCanDOit #HealAsOne #COVID19PH

As the country continues to grapple with the economic paralysis brought by the pandemic, small Filipino local businesses have the challenges magnified with decreasing income and adjusting to the logistical changes required by the Inter-Agency Task Force regulations. 

Many of these local businesses have resorted to online means of selling their products in order to somehow cushion the impact of income loss and continue with their operations. 

Mitch Oddera, a 51-year-old yoga instructor from Macasandig, came to support these local businesses by featuring them in her blogs which she shares on her social media accounts. 

“Business owners might be our neighbors, friends, relatives, and acquaintances,” Mitch shares, realizing the need for community support for small local businesses in the time of a crisis. 

She adds, “during this time of pandemic there is a high need to boost their image and services since they are part of our community.”

She mostly features local food businesses by enticing people to eat and order from them in her short videos. After which, Mitch mentions their contact details for people to take note.

Her neighbor’s farm produce, Riley’s truffle mushroom spread, and a Tinabunan Arts and Craft’s bag are some of her latest features. 

Her lively blogs are welcomed with kind replies from people who even suggest on what to feature next. Mitch then shares posts from other local businesses 

Aside from supporting local businesses, Mitch offers free online yoga classes these days. 

(To view her blogs and yoga classes, pop over to her Facebook account: www.facebook.com/Ekam.Ooh/)

The present count (as of July 14) of positive cases of COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao has jumped to 349. Out of the 349 cases, 306 came from Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) or Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Positive cases in Cagayan de Oro City alone reached 101 (actual count); 77 of which are LSIs/ROFs.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has placed Region 10 under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) until July 31, 2020.

The MGCQ status is the transition phase between GCQ and New Normal when the following temporary measures are relaxed and become less necessary: (1) limiting movement and transportation, (2) the regulation of operating industries, and (3) the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.

See graphs for more details.

#CDOCOVID19Response #NagkahiusaBatokCOVID19
#iCanDOit #HealAsOne #COVID19PH

The Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) voiced anew their gratitude to Cagayan de Oro City Hall for helping decongest their backlog of non-COVID-19 cases through JR Borja General Hospital and the barangay health centers.

“We are thankful to the city which had long absorbed our non-COVID-19 cases and to other local governments in Northern Mindanao for operating their own isolation units (which prevented NMMC from being crowded with patients),” said NMMC liaison officer Dr. Bernard Julius Rocha.

During Wednesday noon´s (July 15) press briefing, Dr. Rocha said it would be a far different situation if all local governments in the region sent their COVID-19 cases to NMMC.

“Imagine if that happens, we have limited facilities and we would be overwhelmed (with mild to severe COVID-19 patients),” Dr. Rocha added.

All of the COVID-19 positive patients in Cagayan de Oro City were housed in the city temporary treatment and monitoring facility (TTMF). Kagay-anon arrivals who came from across the country or abroad are brought straight to the city´s isolation units from the airport, seaport and bus terminals for their two-week quarantine.

NMMC is designated by the Department of Health (DOH-10) as Region 10´s COVID-19 referral hospital.

“By providing quarantine quarters (to their COVID-19 patients) and handling all non-COVID-19 cases, City Hall helped shoulder NMMC´s burden and bolstered its capacity to deal with more severe COVID-19 cases,” Dr. Rocha said.

In the face of various social emergencies brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is strong pressure among local governments to quickly formulate and deliver solutions to their constituencies. The challenge, however, is that the institutional architecture of governmental procedures may cause undue constraints in responding effectively to needs of the community. As such, what have been the lessons of local governments in terms of more inclusive approaches to this crisis?

Cagayan De Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno, an AIM Mindanao Bridging Leaders Program Fellow, shared what has been implemented in CDO-LGU, and explored strategies that local governments can adapt to co-create interventions with the community in this public health crisis. Also participated in the discussion were Prof. Nieves R. Confesor and Dr. Timothy M. Ting from the Asian Institute of Management. Prof. Manuel De Vera, Executive Director of the AIM TeaM Energy Center for Bridging Leadership, was the moderator.

The present count (as of July 12) of positive cases of COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao has jumped to 314. Out of the 314 cases, 276 came from Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) or Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Positive cases in Cagayan de Oro City alone reached 97 (actual count); 73 of which are LSIs/ROFs. Figures from CDO also indicated 69 out-patients, 21 recoveries, 6 deaths, and 1 currently admitted at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC).

Region 10 is currently under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).

The MGCQ status is the transition phase between GCQ and New Normal when the following temporary measures are relaxed and become less necessary: (1) limiting movement and transportation, (2) the regulation of operating industries, and (3) the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.

See graphs for more details.

#CDOCOVID19Response #NagkahiusaBatokCOVID19 #iCanDOit #HealAsOne #COVID19PH

Kagay-anon arrivals who choose to go straight home instead of undergoing processing by City Hall at the airport, port, and terminal areas run the risk of being reported to barangay hall by their neighbors, City Mayor Oscar Moreno said Saturday noon (July 11).

“A barangay kagawad told me about someone who wants to come home to their area and he told me that they just cannot do that (without informing City Hall) lest the neighbors complain to him,” Mayor Moreno said in Binisaya during Saturday noon´s press briefing.

Mayor Moreno said this is a strong indication of elevated community vigilance in monitoring of new arrivals from air, land, and sea due to the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases involving Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) and Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

“Mao ni kinahanglan gyod mo-kooperar matag LSI ug ROF sa atong City Hall teams (That´s why LSIs and ROFs need to cooperate with our City Hall teams) assigned to conduct risk assessment on them prior to bringing them to city isolation units for two-week quarantine,” Mayor Moreno said.

City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery repeatedly called on all Kagay-anon arrivals to undergo processing by designated City Health Office personnel at airports, port and terminal areas.

After quarantine, Dr. Nery said these arrivals should notify their barangay health workers of their presence so their condition can be monitored.

The present count (as of July 9) of positive cases of COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao has jumped to 278. Out of the 278 cases, 241 came from Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) or Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Positive cases in Cagayan de Oro City alone reached 89 (actual count); 66 of which are LSIs/ROFs. Figures from CDO also indicated 66 out-patients, 17 recoveries, and 6 deaths.

Region 10 is currently under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).

The MGCQ status is the transition phase between GCQ and New Normal when the following temporary measures are relaxed and become less necessary: (1) limiting movement and transportation, (2) the regulation of operating industries, and (3) the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.

See graphs for more details.

#CDOCOVID19Response #NagkahiusaBatokCOVID19 #iCanDOit #HealAsOne #COVID19PH