DAVAO CITY – Before the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic over a year ago, health authorities here announced that they were monitoring travelers from China following the outbreak of a “mysterious disease.” On Jan. 7, 2020, Department of Health (DOH) Assistant Secretary Abdullah Dumama bared in a press conference that while there was no ban imposed on travelers from China, they were told by the DOH Central Office in Manila to closely monitor travelers from China.

“We were told by the Secretary (Francisco Duque III) that we need to be screening and tightly monitoring those coming from China,” he said.

The virus, at that time, was still unnamed but Dumama said Chinese medical experts reported that those inflicted with the mysterious disease showed pneumonia-like symptoms, headache, joint pains, colds, and cough.

Before the end of January 2020, 73 Chinese nationals and six Filipinos who arrived via the Jinjiang-Davao Flight MF8679 of Xiamen Air were monitored by the Bureau of Quarantine Davao even as all of them tested negative from the symptoms of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Davao City and Jinjiang are sister cities.

The Island Garden City of Samal immediately issued a temporary ban on Chinese and other Asian nationals from touring the island.

By Feb. 1, the office of the Consulate General of China here announced the suspension of the Jinjiang-Davao-Jinjiang direct flight amid the nCoV scare.

Two days after on Feb. 3, Chinese Consul General Li Lin told local reporters that all Chinese tourists visiting Davao and Mindanao areas had been flown to Manila on Feb. 2 and were ordered by the Chinese Embassy to return to China.

On Feb. 10, Mayor Sara Duterte cancelled all major activities for the 83rd Araw ng Dabaw celebration. Despite the order, the Araw ng Davao Six-Cock Derby at the New Davao Matina Gallery pushed through in March, making it the Ground Zero for the COVID-19 outbreak in Mindanao.

COVID-19 AS A PANDEMIC On March 8, 2020, President Duterte issued Proclamation 922 declaring a State of Public Health Emergency that takes effect until lifted or withdrawn by the Chief Executive. In addition, the DOH issued Alert Level 4, Code Red for COVID-19.

While not yet imposing a lockdown, the city government issued guidelines canceling the flag ceremony until after the Public Health Emergency is lifted and for employees to disinfect their offices. All Araw ng Barangay celebrations were ordered either canceled or postponed until the health emergency is lifted.

Sporting events, like the annual Davao Regional Athletic Association (DAVRAA) 2020, were also suspended.

All play parks and the city’s Roxas Night Market were ordered temporarily closed.

Three days later on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that “COVID-19 could be characterized as a pandemic.” FIRST CASE IN DAVAO REGION The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Davao region was recorded on March 15.

The 21-year-old female patient identified only as PH130 was initially a Patient Under Investigation (PUI) who tested positive for COVID-19. PH130 arrived in the Philippines from the United Kingdom with layover via Doha, Qatar to Manila then to Davao City on Feb. 29. The patient was a resident of Pantukan in Davao de Oro. Within the same month, PH130 recovered and was discharged from hospital care.

On March 22, 2020, the DOH-Davao confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19 in Davao City who were identified as PH262, male, and PH263, female. Both were aged 47 and arrived in Davao City from Manila on March 6.

LOCKDOWN, CURFEW IN DAVAO REGION Lockdown between cities were imposed. First, it was a partial lockdown imposed by the mayors of Davao City and Tagum City under Executive Order No. 11.

Then came the closure of all entries to Davao region as the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) and Regional Development Council (RDC) created the Davao Region COVID-19 Task Force to implement a unified effort across local government units to contain the infection.

The task force was led by Mayor Duterte, who was designated as chairperson of the RPOC and RDC.

The task force, comprised of various local chief executives and heads of other government agencies, was formed to synergize the efforts of all local government units.

In Executive Orders 12 and 13 issued following the announcement of the 14-day border closure, Mayor Duterte ordered the suspension of domestic and international flights effective immediately in pursuance of Presidential Proclamation 922 placing the country “in a state of public health emergency in relation to national security.” The city was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from April 4 to May 15, with curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., 24/7 liquor ban, and food and medicine (FM) pass to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) imposed; general community quarantine (GCQ) from May 16 until June 30, with readjusted curfew hours from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.; and modified GCQ from July 1 to November 19.

Commercial flights to Manila, Cebu, and Clark resumed on June 8.

As quarantine restrictions further eased during MGCQ, the mayor lifted the curfew and the requirement of FM pass on Aug. 3, 2020, while urging the Dabawenyos “to self-regulate” as the threat of COVID-19 remained. The 24/7 ban on alcoholic beverages was lifted on Sept. 21 to “gradually allow business establishments to resume operations including businesses in the liquor industry.” Not long after restrictions were relaxed, the city saw itself grappling with another surge, prompting the mayor to reimpose curfew hours and liquor ban from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. effective Oct. 15 and a 24/7 liquor ban on Nov. 2. The city was declared as a “restricted” local government unit on Nov. 13, and the use of FM pass was subsequently reimposed to control the movement of the people after seeing a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.

Frontline health workers called for a time-out and asked the government to put the city under a more restrictive ECQ, as new cases overwhelmed Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), the primary hospital attending to the COVID-19 patients.

Instead of ECQ, the quarantine status of the city was only reverted to GCQ on Nov. 20 even as National Task Force Against COVID 19 Chief Implementer Carlito G. Galvez Jr. described the sharp spike as “very alarming.” On Feb. 13, 2021, the city reported its first case of the UK variant or B.1.1.7 after local health authorities confirmed that the specimen taken from a 10-year-old boy yielded positive genome sequencing results at the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC). As of March 10, City Health Office acting head Dr. Ashley Lopez said there is no evidence yet of local transmission of the UK variant in the city.

ARRIVAL OF VACCINES The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac comprising 12,000 doses arrived in the city on March 2 and additional 21,600 of similar vaccines on March 4, a day before the official rollout of the vaccination program of the frontline health workers at the SPMC.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III administered the Sinovac vaccine to SPMC officer-in-charge Dr. Rircardo Audan, the first in Mindanao who took the COVID-19 jab.

Another 20,000 doses of vaccines developed jointly by the British-firm Astrazeneca and Oxford University were also delivered to the city last March 10, bringing the total available doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 53,600. All vaccines have been shared among the local government units in Davao region.

From two cases on March 22, 2020, the city’s total COVID-19 cases ballooned to 13,356 as of March 13, 2021, with 541 active, 12,167 recoveries, and 648 died.

In Davao region, as of March 13, the total number of recorded COVID-19 cases is 20,587, with 1,032 active, 18,682 recoveries, and 873 deaths. (With reports from Armando Fenequito Jr., Ivy Tejano, and Warren Elijah Valdez)