Tacloban City”•The province of Samar is now under a state of calamity as the dengue cases continue to surge despite the efforts to contain the mosquito-borne illness.
In a special session on Saturday afternoon, the provincial board approved the resolution to put the province under a state of calamity as the health authorities recorded 1,855 cases from January to July this year.
This is nearly double the 653 dengue cases recorded in 2018.
Alarmed by rising dengue cases, the city government of Catbalogan in Samar has reiterated its call to residents to join its anti-dengue campaign.
“The first step in addressing the dengue problem starts within our homes. I'm urging our constituents to help in curbing the dengue problem,” Mayor Dexter Uy said in a message posted on his Facebook account Monday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday met with the mayors of Cavite province to ensure that preparedness and outbreak response against dengue are in place at all levels of care.
Duque said this would ensure support to the communities with dengue cases.
He cited the need for all local governments to be ready to give support to victims of dengue, especially with the increasing number of cases in Cavite.
Data show that Calbayog City has the most number of dengue cases with 461, or an increase of 83 percent from 2018. The city has also recorded one death.
Catbalogan, the capital city of Samar, ranks second with 340 cases and one death. This is 254 percent higher than the 96 dengue cases reported in the same period last year.
“The foregoing alarming figures command the urgent action from the province to mitigate, control and eventually eliminate dengue infection. Thus, the need to declare the entire province of Samar under state of calamity to mobilize all concerned and take necessary steps to obtain our objective of eliminating dengue infection,” the provincial board’s resolution said.
Samar is the third province in Eastern Visayas placed under a state of calamity after Leyte and Eastern Samar.
“The declaration is really important at this stage because of the continuous increase of dengue cases in the province. I visited Samar provincial hospital and I met a mother whose five of her six children are all dengue patients,” Vice Governor Michael Tan said in a phone interview Monday.
“I hope that all residents of Samar will cooperate to address this health problem. We encourage all officials in towns and cities in Samar to continue their anti-dengue campaign and to continue cleaning the environment to destroy the mosquito breeding grounds.”
The towns with the most dengue cases in Samar are Gandara (163), Sta. Margarita (143), Sta. Rita (131), Zumarraga (105), Villareal and Daram (77 cases each), Basey (65), Tarangnan (46), Paranas (45), Marabut (43), San Jorge (28), Hinabangan and Calbiga (20 cases each), Jiabong (17), Talalora (15), Pagsanghan (13), Pinabacdao and Matuguinao (12 cases each) and Motiong (10).
The towns with single-digit dengue cases are Sto. Niño (nine), Almagro (six), San Sebastian (four), and one case each in San Jose de Buan and Tagapul-an. With Macon Ramos-Araneta