As the province of Negros Occidental deals with rising cases of cholera, education officials in Western Visayas have directed the 21 schools divisions in the region to check the water sources in their respective schools and advised teachers and learners not to use water in schools for drinking.
Negros Occidental Schools Division spokesperson Ian Arnold Arnaez said that cholera precautions have already been incorporated in the division’s procedures for School Based Management of Water Sanitation and Hygiene.
Operators and workers of canteens in elementary and secondary schools in the province were also required to submit their sanitation permits and health cards to ensure the safety of students, as well as teaching and non-teaching staff.
Aside from schools, the city of Bacolod has also shut down wells for chlorination in Purok Luhod-luhod, Barangay Mandalagan, after one well in the purok was found positive for cholera-causing Vibrio cholerae bacteria.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the Vibrio cholera bacteria. People can get sick when they ingest contaminated food or water, and although the symptoms are often mild, there is a chance of it turning severe and life threatening.
The precautions being taken by schools, local government, and individuals are necessary as outbreaks can be nasty. The Department of Education needs to take extra care, especially with the return of face-to-face classes where the still-present threat of COVID-19 is compounded by cholera, which can easily spread if food or water sources are somehow contaminated.
The World Health Organization sees cholera as an indicator of “inequity and lack of social development” because it should be controllable with safe water, good sanitation and proper hygiene.
We are now face to face with the threat of cholera. As we take measures to protect our society from further exposure and damage, we also have to shore up our infrastructure and institutions to make sure it cannot return after we do manage to beat it back. This will require a concerted effort on our part, not just a reliance on luck and the hope that it will peter out on its own.*
