DAVAO CITY – City health authorities have observed an increasing trend in new COVID-19 cases here, Dr. Ashley Lopez, acting head of the City Health Office, confirmed.
In an interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) Thursday, Lopez said the city has been preparing for an increase in COVID-19 cases in light of the surge happening in the National Capital Region, some parts of Visayas, Zamboanga City in Zamboanga Peninsula, General Santos City in Socsargen, and Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao.
But Lopez explained that the increase in the number of new infections here might also be due to the expanded testing capacity as part of the community surveillance testing of the city government.
“In general, our positivity rate is low. When your positivity rate is low, you have low community transmission. There is no evidence yet on the transmission from returning OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) nor there is evidence of transmission coming from possible variants,” he added.
He said the possibility of a surge in the city is not totally farfetched as parts of Mindanao are seeing more cases and detecting new COVID-19 variants.
“It appeared that it has already made its way to some parts of Mindanao because we have spiking cases in Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro,” he added.