MALOLOS CITY — Malolos Mayor Gilbert Gatchalian highlighted Monday the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response efforts of the city government.
“From Day 1 when President Duterte declared the national state of calamity, we have partnered with private sectors and other government agencies to initiate actions that will help us contain the spread of COVID-19 in the city”, Gatchalian said during the visit of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team members in the city.
Specifically, the mayor said that the city government, through its city council, created policies through the enactment of executive orders, ordinances, and resolutions, in accordance with the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the Department of Health (DOH).
“Among the policies we crafted include observance of strict home quarantine, closure of non-basic necessities and services, implementing guidelines on the operation of the Malolos Public Market, and requiring banks and money transfer services to implement measures on social distancing,” Gatchalian said.
The city also addressed the readiness of funeral parlors to manage COVID-related deaths through enactment of Executive Order No. 25, and create a COVID Team exclusively to address the needs of Malolenyos who have lost their loved ones due to the pandemic.
Aside from managing the dead, the city government also implemented policies to ensure that movement of people will be managed.
“We required home quarantine pass, implementing the two-day window period. Because we have around 70,000 households in the city, we divided them into three clusters so that at least we can manage the 24,000 to 25,000 persons, aside from the authorized persons outside residence,” Gatchalian said.
As part of its prevention efforts, the city government, with the help of uniformed personnel and barangays officials, strictly implemented border control, and increased the visibility of uniformed personnel in frequently visited establishments and market, to ensure compliance to social distancing.
As a result, the local police were able to apprehend 953 protocol violators, with 11 cases filed. In addition, 16 liquor ban operations were conducted with 16 individuals arrested.
“Through our City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and City Health Office, we have provided public utility vehicles terminals and associations with thermal scanners. We have 77 terminals and 11 associations so in total, we were able to distribute 88 thermal scanners,” the local chief executive said.
The city government also partnered with different organizations which donated additional swab testing kits, while the city was also able to donate personal protective equipment to private hospitals.
In terms of quarantine facilities, the city has five facilities as such with a total bed capacity of 181 beds. The city is also coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways to increase the capacity of the Malolos Sports and Convention Center, as well as adding container vans to become isolation facilities for patients.
As part of its reintegration program, the city has partnered with social workers and faith-based groups to provide counseling not just to COVID patients, but also to their families, in order to address increasing anxiety and depression.
“It has also become our practice that our doctors, CDRRMO personnel, and other dedicated staff call COVID patients on a daily basis to ask how they are. This is to remind them that despite being isolated, the government is caring for them and that they are being prayed for by our colleagues from different churches,” Gatchalian said.
The city government also distributed food packages to the 51 barangays during the lockdown.
Aside from food relief, around 43,000 households also received financial assistance through the Social Amelioration Program.
“With the help of the Department of Labor and Employment, 419 Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers also received financial assistance, while the City Social Welfare and Development Office provided livelihood grants to 687 beneficiaries.
The Department of Agriculture also gave various aids including Kadiwa on Wheels, as well as the distribution of 2,600 broiler chickens, 500 ranged chickens, 20 cows, and 13 goats to affected farmers.
“As mandated by the National IATF-EID, we also created a one stop shop for locally stranded individuals, wherein we were able to assist 1,550 LSIs and 184 repatriated Overseas Filipinos,” the mayor said.
Despite these efforts, he said the government cannot do this alone and called on the public to still observe minimum health protocols such as wearing of facemasks and social distancing to contain the spread of COVID-19.