BACOLOD City – This city is on an alert for cholera. The City Health Office (CHO) documented one confirmed case Friday last week.
Dr. Grace Tan, chief of the CHO Environment Sanitation Division, said the case was a 37-year-old female confined at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) due to severe dehydration caused by several episodes of watery stool and vomiting.
The patient was discharged after five days of confinement, Tan added.
The CHO reminds the public to use clean, potable water for drinking and domestic use.
“Get water for drinking only from water refilling stations with updated bacteriological monitoring of their water and permits,” Tan stressed.
She added, “Ensure that water pipes or hose from the water facility (PrimeWater) has no holes or bandages as contamination may seep in.”
Tan further said that if water for domestic use is sourced from a deep well, whether by hand pump or timba, ensure that water plates are not broken; washing, bathing or laundry should be done away from the source.
Wash hands with soap and water before and after eating, food preparation, and caring for the sick; after using the toilet, washing or cleaning babies and adults and pets; after coughing, sneezing; and before feeding the baby, reminded Tan.
The CHO continues to monitor cases (from community and hospitals), taking consideration of clustering of cases in a particular area/barangay.
They also conduct water sampling and send these samples to appropriate laboratories; health education; and make recommendations and encouraging its implementations especially with health and sanitation through the sanitation inspectors.
Committee to monitor potable water mulled
Meanwhile, Councilor Em Ang filed a proposed ordinance establishing the Bacolod Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Committee before the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) last week, which was passed on first reading.
Based on the Administrative Order No. 2017-0010 , known as the Philippine National Drinking Water Standards of 2017, local government units (LGUs) are directed to establish a local drinking water-quality monitoring committee.
Ang said the purpose of this is to protect the health of the public drinking water from water refilling stations and from other water sources in the city while complying with the national government directive.
She cited Chapter II of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 856, known as the Sanitation Code of the Philippines which provides that, “standards for drinking water and their bacteriological and chemical examinations, together with the evaluation of results, shall conform to the criteria set by the National Drinking Water Standards.”
Recently, the city council passed a resolution urging the CHO to inspect and test the potability of all water refilling stations in the city, and through the City Mayor’s Office, order the “closure of those who are in violation” of PD No. 856.
This was following complaints in mainstream and social media by the residents that employees of water stations handling the refilling process of water containers are not complying with the rules set by the said sanitation code.
There were also numerous complaints sent to the office of Ang noting that they experienced stomach sickness after consuming water products from some water refilling stations in the city.
It is proposed that the committee will be composed of the city mayor as the chairperson; vice chairperson – vice mayor; members – chairperson, SP Committee on Health; chairperson, SP Committee on Environment; City health officer; and city environment and natural resources officer.
Other members include the city planning and development officer; city engineer; city agriculturist; city public information officer; general manager, Bacolod City Water District/PrimeWater; representative of Local Health Board; three representatives from the non-government organizations; and sanitary inspectors.
Part of their functions is to regularly collect and analyze water samples and evaluate laboratory results if it has complied with the national standards, conducts regular or immediate sanitary survey during the existence of contamination, and inform the public of the latest quality of the drinking water in the locality./PN
