Aklan towns asked to prepare burial grounds for COVID-19 fatalities

Governor Joeben Miraflores has asked the municipalities in the province to prepare their own burial grounds for COVID-19 fatalities after Aklan's  partner crematorium stopped its operations.

According to Jun Veneracion's report on "24 Oras", Kalibo Mayor Emerson Lachina said Miraflores had ordered all municipalities in Aklan to find locations to bury the dead due to problems with the crematorium in Iloilo.

"As per advice ng ating Gov. Joeben Miraflores na bawat bayan dito sa probinsya ng Aklan, kanya-kanya na kaming designated na burial ground," Lachina said on Super Radyo dzBB.

The "partner" crematorium in Iloilo province reportedly halted its operations due to the rising number of patients, who died of COVID-19.

Patients on board ambulances in Aklan are lining up in front of hospitals waiting to get treated. But according to disaster risk responders from local government units, these patients have already succumbed to the respiratory disease even before they get hospitalized.

"Sa part po naming responder ang sakit po nu'n," Jeremie Fernandez, first responder  of Aklan disaster risk reduction office, said.

According to the Department of Health, health care utilization rate in Aklan is still at safe to moderate while occupancy rate of ward beds were already at critical level.

The national government on Monday placed Aklan under a modified enhanced community quarantine until Aug. 15 in a bid to suppress the coronavirus disease surge possibly caused by the highly contagious Delta variant. —Consuelo Marquez/NB, GMA News