Officials and workers of the city’s 54 barangays have been advised to take precautionary measures in attending to their respective constituents amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Dr. Noel Ceniza, City Health Office chief, issued the advice Sunday as 84 barangay officials and workers have tested positive for Covid-19.

Ceniza said the 84 were among the 1,445 barangay officials and workers who were tested for Covid-19 in batches since the establishment of the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in November.

Ceniza, who is also the EOC deputy for medical services, said these barangay officials and workers have been identified as the “silent spreaders” of the virus since they were all asymptomatic and “unknowingly carrying the virus and faced their constituents while serving as front-liners in their respective barangays.”

They were complacent, Ceniza added, gathering inside their barangay facilities, “eating together where they would obviously remove their face masks and face shields, one reason why the virus could spread fast.”

He said all those afflicted with Covid-19 were immediately brought to government isolation facilities and contact tracing had been conducted.

The EOC here was established by retired Maj. Gen. Mel Feliciano, the Inter-Agency Task Force deputy chief implementer for Visayas and Mindanao, after this city was identified as Covid-19 high-risk area.

The EOC comprises of several cluster groups and each has been assigned a particular task to address cases of Covid-19 here.

In previous weeks, the highest number of cases of Covid-19 reached 50 in one day but it dropped to 10 and lower as of Dec. 1 with the EOC in place.

Audrey Cabato, EOC executive director, said they have identified Barangay Balangsan as Covid-19 hot spot area since it is the most populated village in this city.

Cabato said that measures have been imposed to contain the cases of Covid-19 in the area. (PNA)