■ DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, DENGUE PREVENTION KEEP PUBLIC SCHOOL OFFICIALS BUSY THIS RAINY SEASON

Ensuring that public school students are safe from floods and landslides is not the only concern of the Cebu City Schools Division this rainy season. Education officials in the city are also making sure that students are protected from the dengue virus in the city’s public schools. Cebu City Assistant Schools Superintendent Dr. Danilo Gudelosao said they are strengthening the implementation of the City’s anti-dengue program now that the wet season has started, a time when there is a spike in the number of dengue cases. This includes the four o’ clock habit, which encourages teachers and students to search and destroy possible breeding places of mosquitoes at 4 p.m. every day.

The onset of the rainy season is here, but are the 126 public schools in Cebu City prepared for it?

According to Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu City Assistant Schools Superintendent Dr. Danilo Gudelosao, they have incorporated disaster-preparedness in schools during their week-long Brigada Eskwela activity last May 28.

One of the general instructions for the activity was disaster management in landslide-prone areas, especially in Barangays Busay, Sirao and Sapangdaku.

School principals in the mountain barangays were also instructed to suspend classes immediately when there is a heavy downpour.

DepEd Cebu City is also strengthening the enforcement of its anti-dengue program.

“It’s a year-round program. Since kids are more susceptible to it, we have a medical team that is constantly doing rounds in schools to check students,” Gudelosao told SunStar Cebu.

He added that schools have been instructed to practice the 4 o’clock habit of the Department of Health.

This is an annual campaign that encourages communities to take time out to “search and destroy possible mosquito breeding places” at 4 p.m. every day.

Since mosquitoes carrying the disease are most active at dusk, cleaning before evening is advised.

Cleanliness

To ensure a holistic result, Gudelosao also urged parents to maintain cleanliness at home and for the community to initiate anti-dengue programs.

“Aside from making sure our children always have with them their rain gear, we also have to teach them the value of cleanliness. Cleaning up not only keeps dengue-carrying mosquitoes and prevent flooding, but also encourages awareness among our children,” he added.

Anti-dengue measures for schools were also taken by Cebu City Hall.

Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, deputy mayor for health, said misting was conducted in schools before classes opened last June 4.

“We will be prioritizing the schools for curtain impregnation. We also gave dengue lectures to some of the schools during the Brigada Eskwela. Aside from this, barangay health workers were called last week for a meeting to intensify ovitrapping,” she said.

Ovitraps are used for monitoring and can detect disease-carrying mosquitoes, acting as an early warning signal to preempt disease outbreaks.

Last January, City Health Department head Dr. Alma Corpin said dengue cases and deaths in the city dropped from 50 deaths and 3,996 cases in 2016 to 38 deaths and 2,184 cases last year.

Some 36 of the total deaths in 2017 involved children aged 15 and below.

Those that recorded high incidence of dengue in the city were Barangays Capitol Site, Kalubihan, San Antonio, Sto. Niño and Zapatera.