The Marikina and Pasay governments have ramped up protocols to keep their constituents safe against the more transmissible coronavirus Delta variant.

None among the 25 cases of the hypertransmissible variant in the National Capital Region are from either cities.

In a statement on Thursday, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said the city government will impose stricter measures while expecting more vaccine doses.

“With the threat of the new variant, Marikina will exhaust all possible measures and available resources, as well as employ stricter protocols to prevent the entry and spread of the variant and stem the increase in cases,” he said.

Since the onslaught of the pandemic, Teodoro noted that they have always been aggressive and proactive in responding to the public health crisis.

As the Delta variant lurks, he said they will expand testing and contact tracing efforts as well as aggressively implement quarantine measures.

Teodoro reminded residents “to always practice minimum public health standards even for fully-vaccinated individuals.”

“We need to ramp up the vaccination in Marikina due to the threat of the Delta variant. We implore the national government to deploy at least 4 million additional vaccine doses to Marikina City to boost our inoculation program and vaccinate as much people as possible,” he said.

Info drive

In Pasay, border control measures and intensified public information, communication, and educational campaign about the dangers of the new variant are being enforced.

Mayor Emi-Calixto Rubiano said in a Zoom interview on Thursday that local health authorities are leading the way to inform residents.

“Despite the slight rise in cases, Pasay still has one of the lowest numbers of active cases at 80 in Metro Manila, and the City Hall is working double time to further bring them down as much as possible,” she said.

The city government’s current contact tracing ratio is at 1:22, which is well within the recommended 1:15 or more ratio.

“Right now, Pasay City still has zero Delta variant cases. But even before the declaration of the community transmission of the said variant in the country, we have already met with our barangay officials, Covid team, and our health officials to prepare and, if possible, prevent its entry into the city,” Rubiano said.

She added their isolation facilities and Covid-19 beds are ready, they have stockpiled more personal protective equipment for front-liners, and even oxygen tanks are prepared.

As for the Department of Health report that Pasay City showed an increased two-week growth rate of Covid-19 cases, Rubiano explained that the increase was brought about by people who temporarily moved to the city prior to their intended destinations.

Rubiano said localized lockdowns have been proven effective in containing their cases, like early this year when daily active cases reached as much as 2,000. (PNA)