Negros Occidental hospitals on ‘Code White’ due to rains, flooding

Hospitals and other health facilities across Negros Occidental have been placed on “Code White” or heightened alert due to heavy rains and widespread flooding. INQUIRER FILES

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental — Hospitals and other health facilities across Negros Occidental have been placed on “Code White,” or heightened alert, due to heavy rainfall and widespread flooding.

Dr. Girlie Pinongan, Negros Occidental provincial health officer, said that all health facilities provincewide have been on heightened alert since Thursday, as rain showers brought on by the southwest monsoon and Tropical Depression “Crising” are expected to persist until today, Friday.

READ: TD Crising, habagat to bring heavy rains until Sunday – Pagasa

Pinongan urged residents in flood-prone areas to evacuate to higher ground.

She also advised anyone exposed to floodwaters to visit health centers to receive doxycycline, a prophylactic treatment for leptospirosis.

Residents were reminded to take precautions against waterborne diseases, Pinongan added.

“It is best to boil drinking water to avoid illnesses caused by flooding contamination,” she stressed.

Pinongan explained that diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, and leptospirosis are directly linked to water contamination, which is a major risk factor during flooding.

She also noted that the incidence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and yellow fever increases due to standing water, which serves as breeding sites for mosquitoes./coa