Strengthened health monitoring systems at entry points into Negros Occidental and Bacolod City will be enforced two weeks ahead of the MassKara Festival that kicks off on October 1, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Provincial Health Officer, said on Tuesday, September 6.
The monitoring against monkeypox and COVID-19 will have to be strengthened with a huge influx of visitors expected for the MassKara, he said.
Tumimbang said Bacolod City Health Officer Ma. Carmela Gensoli called a meeting to discuss the CHO’s preparations and protocols, and for a coordinated response with the provincial government.
Visitors arriving at the Bacolod Silay Airport and at seaports in Bacolod and other areas of Negros Occidental will be closely monitored, he said.
Negros Occidental and Bacolod City composite teams will be created, Tumimbang said.
Their monitoring drive will be done in coordination with the Bureau of Quarantine, Bureau of Immigration and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, he said.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Provincial Health Emergency Network composed of health and disaster responders from government and private groups was held Tuesday to update them on monkeypox, COVID-19 and dengue, and to train them on response measures, Tumimbang said.
There in an increase in monkeypox cases in the United States and it is just a matter of time before it reaches Asia, which includes the Philippines, he added.*