Baguio beefing up triage system to ensure safety amid increase in entrants

Baguio City will beef up its triaging system to ensure that health and safety protocols are maintained even with the increasing number of visitors and entrants as part of the calibrated reopening of the city’s economy.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city will also look into streamlining the checkpoint and triaging process without dropping caution to continue to prevent potentially infected persons from gaining entry and spreading Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) virus.

City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña and City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo said additional triage units will be set up by hotels and bus companies to decongest the central triage at the Baguio Convention Center especially during weekends, long weekends and holidays when visitors flock to the city.

Galpo said bus companies are now working on reviving their triage facilities while Dela Peña said at least 12 hotels have applied for accreditation of their own triage units.

The traffic and process flow at the central triage had also been improved as of Nov. 24, according to Dela Peña even as the city also worked out the augmentation of the manpower assigned to the units. 

Also last Nov. 25, the city established another triage unit at the Lion’s Head section for travellers who will traverse the newly reopened highway.

The checkpoints along highways will continue to be tapped to do initial triaging particularly for residents and authorized persons outside residents (APORs) who are fully vaccinated.

The city tightened border and triage rule implementation as contingency measure against the Delta variant surge and has since turned away numerous entrants with incomplete and fake documents daily.

 Executive Assistant IV Althea Alberto said the city’s entry and triage protocols will be revised once the city’s alert level status eases up.

She said the focus of triaging may shift to document verification more than health screening. – Aileen P. Refuerzo