MEXICO, Pampanga — The municipal government highlighted its various strategies to contain and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview, Mayor Teddy Tumang said at the onset of the pandemic, the local government gave priority to the protection of their health workers.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, back when face masks and personal protective equipment were difficult to acquire, we were among the first one to purchase right away so that we can distribute them to our frontliners,” he said.
The mayor added that all their health workers were also given hazard pay.
“Until now, all their needs are still well-provided. We always ask what they need so we can provide these to them. We want to ensure that the local government serve them well so that nobody will contract the virus,” the local chief executive said.
In terms of testing and contact tracing, Tumang said the municipal government also put up a swabbing booth, as well as a 60-bed capacity isolation facility in front of the Mexico Community Hospital.
“We take the specimens at our swabbing booth and we just forward these to Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Hospital. I think having our own booth helps ease the apprehension of our constituents when it comes to testing. Of course, if we do the testing here, they will feel more safe and less exposed, compared if they will have to go to our regional or provincial hospital,” he said.
The mayor added that aside from the health aspect, the municipal government also gave relief goods, as well as face masks and face shields, to its constituents in various batches.
In terms of its support to different sectors, he said that the local government partnered with different organizations to provide livelihood to affected residents and revive the local economy.
“When it comes to the education sector, we distributed 10 risograph machines to our three districts according to the number of enrollees. We also provided them with ink and bond papers to aid them in the reproduction of modules,” Tumang said.
The mayor said that they also provided aid to farmers by giving them free seeds and fertilizer, and buying them tractors to help boost their production.
Tumang added that they also assist Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) go back home, and provide financial assistance to families of OFWs who died abroad due to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the mayor reminds the public to continuously adhere to the minimum health standards to prevent being infected with the virus.
To date, the town has 245 COVID-19 confirmed cases with 226 recoveries, 10 active cases, and nine mortalities.