MANILA, Philippines – Portions of the Marikina City Public Market were ordered closed by Mayor Marcelino "Marcy" Teodoro after learning about the death of a 72-year-old male market vendor who succumbed to a respiratory illness, suspected of being COVID-19.
The closure, Teodoro said, was done to pave way for the thorough disinfection of stalls at the public market.
“Bilang pag-iingat, ipinasara natin ang Marikina City Public Market upang makapag-massive disinfection at aggressive contact tracing,” he said. (As a precaution, we've closed the Marikina City Public Market to have it disinfected and to set up aggressive contact tracing)
Teodoro said that was important to decontaminate the market even it is not yet a confirmed case of COVID-19, saying it is better to be ready than sorry.
“Hindi dapat magkaroon ng transmission sa palengke, sa dami ng tao na maaring magkasakit. Kailangan maging maingat tayo kaysa sa magsisi sa dulo.” (There should not be transmission of the disease in the market, due to the number of people who could possibly get sick. We must be careful or else suffer for it in the end.)
The market will be closed from Monday, April 20, to Tuesday, April 21. It will resume operations on April 22.
Teodoro said the closed sections of the market are the Wet Section (fish, poultry, meat); Grocery; Carinderia Section; Fruits and Vegetables Section; and Coconut/Niyugan Section.
In addition, Teodoro said he has commanded the City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (CESU) to conduct contract tracing and look for all the people that the vendor might have come in contact with.
“Multi-point contact tracing ang ginagawa natin dito sa Marikina. (Multi-point contact tracing is being done here in Marikina)," Teodoro explained.
"Three parallel tracing to cross reference the results. This is being done to validate,” he added.
According to the mayor, the 72-year-old male never got the chance to get tested. He stressed that this is the reason why getting tested is important.
“Namatay siya tatlong araw matapos kakitaan ng sintomas. Hindi na-test ‘yung namatay kaya hindi pa tukoy kung COVID-19 ang kinamatay niya. Ito ang problema kung hindi tayo nakakapag-testing,” Teodoro said. (He died 3 days after showing symptoms. He wasn't tested when he died so it remains unsure if he died of COVID-19. This is the problem when we don't test.)
“Seventy-two years old na kasi siya. Maaring immuno-compromised na rin siya dahil sa advanced age niya. Matagal na siyang nagtitinda sa palengke, ‘yun na talaga ang hanapbuhay niya,” he added. (He was 72 years old. It's possible he was immunocompromised due to his advanced age. He's been selling in the market for a while, and that was his job.)
The city government is currently conducting contact tracing in the places where he worked and resided – Barangay Sta. Elena, Barangay San Roque, and Barangay Sto. Nino, he said.
“Apartment kasi ang tinitirhan niya, dikit-dikit. Bale limang pamilya ang apektado . Ibibigay na lang ng barangay lahat ng kailangan nila para hindi na sila lumabas,” he added. (He lived in an apartment, where people were in close proximity. Five families are affected. The barangay will assist them so they don't need to go out.)
Teodoro said he was assured by doctors that “the virus will die naturally in two days in the absence of human transmission.”
Other areas of the public market will be thoroughly decontaminated by Marikina City Public Market personnel in the following days, he said.
“Sa susunod na mga araw, phase by phase isasara ang market zone para ma-disinfect within a week,” he said. (In the coming days, the market zone will be disinfected phase by phase within a week.)
As of 3 pm of April 20, the Marikina City Health Department reported that the city has 89 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 13 recoveries, and 18 deaths.
Meanwhile, the city only has probable and 22 suspects as of the same time period.
In Marikina, the barangay with the most number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is Concepcion Uno with 14, followed by Marikina Heights with 12.
The Department of Health (DOH) meanwhile confirmed 200 new coronavirus cases in the country, raising the total number of cases to 6,459 as of 4 pm on Monday, April 20. Nineteen more people died, bringing the death toll to 428. – Rappler.com
