“We cannot fully guarantee that they will be safe from dengue. We don’t where the students eat, but we will assure that we are doing our best to make sure that the school is safe from dengue,” DepEd 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez told SunStar Cebu.
He said schools have been instructed and reminded to conduct search and destroy operations against possible mosquito breeding sites in their premises.
“They need to get rid of containers or receptacles that have stagnant water that may be used as breeding sites by dengue-carrying mosquitoes,” he said in Cebuano.
Jimenez said preventive measures, particularly cleaning, have been implemented as part of Brigada Eskwela, which started on Aug. 1.
He said the agency has been coordinating with local government units and nongovernment organizations to address the problem.
As of Aug. 6, the Department of Health (DOH) 7 recorded 11,103 dengue cases in the region, including 71 deaths.
Cebu had the highest number of cases among the four provinces and three highly-urbanized cities with 4,263, including 26 deaths.
It was followed by Cebu City with 2,074 dengue cases and 25 deaths; Lapu-Lapu City with 1,226 cases and 10 deaths; Bohol with 1,726 cases and 71 deaths; and Negros Oriental with 1,135 cases and six deaths.
Mandaue City and Siquijor Province got the lowest number of dengue cases with 589 cases and four deaths and 90 cases and zero death, respectively. (MKG)