PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Local health and municipal officials in southern Palawan have lifted the state of emergency declared in September due to the diarrhea outbreak which downed 700 residents and killed four.
In a phone interview Monday morning, Dr. Allan Paciones of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office of Quezon, a historical town in southern Palawan where the remains of the “Tabon Man” were discovered, said the outbreak has been placed under control since the first week of October.
“Upon the recommendation of the Municipal Health Office, we already lifted the state of emergency that was declared because of the outbreak. As of October 10, we didn’t get any more report about residents having diarrhea,” Paciones said.
Out of the PHP250,000 released as an emergency fund, he said they have since purchased and distributed water treatment tablets like aquatabs and oral prophylactic medicines.
“Despite the lifting of the state of emergency and the distribution of water treatment tablets and medicines, we still continue to disseminate information about boiling of water before drinking, especially if they come from open sources like water wells to prevent another outbreak from happening,” he said.
Paciones added that part of the campaign against diarrhea is to make sure the residents seek immediate medical help the moment they realize they are already having three or more loose bowel movements per day.
“We continue to tell our residents not to medicate on their own, and not to take their conditions for granted. They should go to the doctor immediately when their conditions do not improve,” he added.
In September, Paciones said at least 727 residents of Quezon had been recorded suffering from diarrhea since July.l, of which four had died.
A state of emergency was then declared in the same month, covering all 14 barangays that are home to over 40,000 residents. (PNA)
