Benitez said yesterday, August 1, that the country has recorded its first monkeypox case and they are now monitoring how to get infected with the virus which is through body-fluids unlike the Covid-19 that can be passed on through droplet transmission.
“Since it’s body fluid, we have more ways to protect ourselves. We should start educating the public on how to protect themselves,” he added.
The mayor stressed that the Covid-19 Action Team led by the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) should monitor the entry of the visitors in Bacolod City in conjunction with the Province of Negros Occidental.
Benitez noted that the Provincial and City DRRMOs are now organizing to have common operations for monkeypox and Covid-19 cases.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said the first case of monkeypox virus was a 31-year-old returning Filipino.
The person had perilously travelled to countries with documented monkeypox cases.
Meanwhile, Benitez said the city government also intensified its campaign against dengue in various barangays and schools.
“We have orientations in the barangays and we started the fumigation in schools in line with the school opening to address the dengue cases,” he said.
Records of the City Health Office (CHO) showed that the dengue cases in Bacolod City have increased by 202.6 percent from January to July 9 this year compared to the same period last year.
From January 1 to July 9, 2022, the city had a total of 345 dengue cases with seven fatalities.
This is higher compared to 114 cases and two deaths for the same period last year.*