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VIGAN CITY, Philippines — Baguio City recorded 519 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, January 13, breaching its old record of 411 cases on September 18, 2021.
The new figure also exceeds Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s January 11 warning that new infections would hit a peak of 500 daily.
The last Baguio surge was in September 2021, also the deadliest month since the pandemic started. The city then recorded 7,063 cases and 146 deaths, driven largely by the virulent Delta variant.
“What we saw during the time Delta is that we were hitting about 200 plus a day, and since Omicron is more transmissible, we are expecting that our cases per day would be around 400 to 500,” the mayor said.
Local officials forecast 4,800 in active cases from the Delta variant.
“Most probably this Omicron (surge) will be hitting around 9,000 to 10,000 active cases,” Magalong said.
He warned that Baguio’s isolation and quarantine units cannot accommodate the projected number.
The city has 722 beds in its facilities.
“We do not have funds, even the national government, for additional beds, but hopefully we can increase it again to 920 beds,” Magalong said. “But up against 9000 active cases, that’s just about one-tenth.”
To cope, the local government is encouraging home quarantine for mild COVID cases if patients’ houses pass the requirements set by the health office.
The mayor explained that by doing this, the hospitals and the city can use resources for those suffering from moderate and severe symptoms.
City Budget Officer Leticia O. Clemente said the city spent P377 million to manage COVID-19 in 2021.
However, Clemente disclosed that there is a drastic decline in the 2022 funds for COVID-19 operations, to only P75.9 million, according to a post by the city information office.
“The city anticipates better times in a new normal situation amidst the emerging threat of the more infectious and more transmissible Omicron variant,” the post said.
Magalong said health authorities have not yet confirmed an Omicron case in the city but that he believes the variant is behind the steep increase of cases.
“All indications point that we now have Omicron in the city of Baguio and most probably community transmission,” the mayor said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on January 6 placed Baguio under Alert Level 3 from January 9 to 15.
Earlier, the city also imposed additional travel restrictions for visitors and accommodation facilities. The local government also lowered the number of tourists and non-essential travelers to 4000. – Rappler.com
Sherwin de Vera is a Luzon-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship.
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