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[av_heading heading=’Estancia declares dengue calamity ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO – The municipality of Estancia declared a state of calamity, citing an outbreak of dengue.
As of the Sept. 10 data of the Provincial Health Office (PHO), Estancia ranked No. 8 among 42 Iloilo towns (and the component city of Passi) with most number of dengue cases – 276 with one death.
Last year from January to September, Estancia had eight cases only.
Estancia was actually the first town to declare a dengue calamity this year. It did so on Sept. 12 – four days before Santa Barbara did the same on Sept. 16.
Following the declaration, Mayor Rene Cordero said, “We used our calamity fund to purchase chemicals against mosquitoes (larvicides and adulticides) as well as knapsack sprayers and distributed these to the barangays.”
Dengue mosquitoes breed in clear, stagnant water.
PHO records showed a 3,350 percent increase in Estancia’s dengue cases this year from last year’s.
In Santa Barbara, on other hand, PHO noted a 1,200 percent increase in dengue cases this year from last year’s (56 only).
As of Sept. 10, Santa Barbara had a total of 728 cases with three deaths – currently the highest in the province.
Yesterday, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) executive director Jerry Bionat said his office was yet to receive copies of the resolutions of the two towns’ Sangguniang Bayans declaring a state of calamity due to dengue.
Under National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Memorandum Order No. 4- 1998, when two or more barangays are affected by a disaster, the Sangguniang Bayan, upon the recommendation of the local chief executive, can declare the entire municipality under a state of calamity.
In the whole province, dengue cases already reached 6,808 with 15 deaths as of Sept. 10. PHO noted a 405 percent increase in cases from last year’s 1,348 cases with seven deaths.
PHO urged local governments to observe the 4S strategy against dengue:
* search and destroy
* self-protection measures
* seek early consultation, and
* say no to indiscriminate fogging./PN
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