DAVAO CITY - City Mayor Sara Duterte said the imposition of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status for Davao City was not yet discussed in the recent Davao COVID-19 Task Force meetings amid the surge of COVID-19 cases.
“Wala pa tay discussion ana (We have not discussed a possible ECQ yet)," the mayor said during her Special Hours program aired over the Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) Monday afternoon (June 21).
Duterte said the City Government of Davao will only heed the recommendations of duly authorized national government agencies related to the COVID-19 response.
Ang Octa Research is not a government research center. Ang ginasunod nato sa mga discussions sa community quarantine ang kanang dinha sa IATF. Kung unsa ang ihatag or irecommend na community quarantine status sa atong syudad ginasunod nato diha sa IATF (The
Octa Research is not a government research center. We’re following our discussions on the community quarantine set by IATF. Whatever recommended community quarantine status for the city, we abide by the IATF),” she said.
Duterte also urged the residents to wait for the IATF recommendation of whether or not to extend the Modified ECQ (MECQ) beyond June 30 or to elevate it to ECQ.
As of 5:00 pm, Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) Davao Center for Health Development reported 582 new cases of COVID-19 in the region.
Davao City has recorded the most number of new cases with 291 bringing the total number of active cases in the city to 4,681.
Since the start of the pandemic, the city has recorded a total of 21,867 COVID-19 cases, 16,353 recoveries, and 833 deaths. Meanwhile, the Davao region has a total of 37,538 COVID-19 cases, with 8,761 active cases, 27,464 recoveries, and 1,313 deaths.
According to Dr. Rache Joy Pasion, Head of the Regional Surveillance Epidemiology Unit DOH - Davao Center for Health Development explained that several factors could explain the surge in COVID-19 cases in the region. She said among these factors is the increasing number of specimens that can be tested.
"Here sa ating region (here in our region) there is an increasing number of cases po, it's because there is also an increasing number of specimens being tested or individuals being tested. In the past, last 2020, we can just accommodate around a hundred or 300 specimens at the start of this pandemic. But right now we can cater to up to 3,000 to 4,000 specimens a day. That is why we can really capture a lot of cases," Pasion said.
Pasion added that Davao City also intensified surveillance swabbing and is testing F1, F2, and F3 individuals.
"Also in our private sector and also some other agencies are also doing surveillance testing in their establishments and if ever there is one positive (case) tini-test po nila halos lahat po ng kanilang mga personnel (they test almost all their personnel)," she added.
Pasion also reminded those who have been vaccinated to continue observing the minimum public health standards (MPHS).
"Nakikita rin po natin its because of the vaccination, nagiging lenient din po ang mga tao (We also observed that because of the vaccination, people tend to be lenient)," she said.
"Parang mas gusto nilang maglagalag na because nga nabakunahan na kahit lang first dose (They seem to want to wander around because they have already been vaccinated even if it's just for the first dose)," she said. Pasion said vaccination is just one of the ways to protect oneself from COVID-19, but getting infected is still possible.
"Pero ito po hindi lang po sya nagpapa-severe sa atin so we should practice MPHS pa rin even after vaccination (But vaccination helps protect us from severe infection so we should still practice MPHS even after vaccination)," she said.