https://www.sunstar.com.ph/ |
- Another Covid-19 vaccine to arrive this month
- Mayor will not ask for ECQ if 2nd wave hits Davao
- Davao City discontinues free RT-PCR test at airport
| Another Covid-19 vaccine to arrive this month Posted: 22 Mar 2021 06:48 AM PDT DAVAO City is expecting another batch of Covid-19 vaccines coming from the National Government before the end of March, Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio said. Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on Monday, March 22, 2021, that this was based on verbal information she received. The mayor, however, did not mention the brand and the number of doses that will arrive. The National Government allocated 33,600 doses of Sinovac and 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca to Davao Region. Of the vaccines received, 20,000 doses of Sinovac and 2,000 AstraZeneca were given to the city. The city started rolling out the allotted vaccines to the medical frontline health workers starting March 5. A total of 16,800 workers are targeted to be inoculated. As of March 15, a total of 4,968 public and private frontline health workers were already inoculated. Of the number, 3,997 were from private hospitals who received the Sinovac vaccine and 997 were City Government health workers who received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio said the city is "not pressuring" the National Government for the allotment of more doses. "Wala tay ing-ana nga move nga magbutang og pressure sa IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases]. Kasi sila ang nakakita sa national data, so ginabilin nato sa ila ang pag-allot sa allotment sa kung asa ipadala ang mga bakuna (We are not pressuring the IATF. They know the national data and we leave it to them to decide on how many vaccine doses we will get)," she said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio. She added, "Wala tay basehan nga (We do not have the basis that) we need more than the other LGUs because we do not see the nationwide numbers." The city, meanwhile, already negotiated with AstraZeneca for the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccines and the drug firm committed to delivering 30,000 doses within the third quarter of this year. But because of the large demand, the mayor said they are "not expecting" that it will be delivered anytime soon. "Wala po'y expectation sa iyang arrival because kita man nato all over the world nga dunay kakulangan but nisulti ang AstraZeneca nga maybe third quarter sila maka-deliver sa first tranche sa atoang gikuha sa ilaha (We are not expecting it to arrive on time because of the shortage of the global vaccine supply. However, AstraZeneca said they might be able to deliver the first tranche of the vaccines we ordered from them around the third quarter)," Duterte-Carpio said. The 19th City Council on March 16, passed an ordinance authorizing Duterte-Carpio to enter into and sign the term sheet to be entered into by and among Faberco Life Sciences Inc., City Government of Davao, Department of Health, National Task Force Against Covid-19 and "all other subsequent contracts that may be entered into by the City with the same or any of such parties, in pursuance of the acquisition/procurement by the City" of the NVX-COV2373 Vaccine to Novavax. Duterte-Carpio said they are waiting for the documents and the city will disclose later on the details of their negotiation with Novavax. The city is targeting to vaccinate an estimated 1.2 million individuals to achieve herd immunity.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Mayor will not ask for ECQ if 2nd wave hits Davao Posted: 22 Mar 2021 06:47 AM PDT IN THE event of a "second wave" of Covid-19 cases, the Davao City Government will not be requesting the city to be placed under a stricter quarantine status, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Monday, March 22, 2021. The Department of Health (DOH) recently reported a surge in Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, which showed signs of a second wave. The surge in cases has been attributed to the new variants of Sars-CoV-2 and diminishing compliance to minimum health standards. Manila is under general community quarantine (GCQ), while Cebu is under modified GCQ (MGCQ). Duterte-Carpio, in a previous statement, already warned of the possibility of a "second wave" if the city will continue to relax some restrictions and the public will not be compliant with minimum health protocols. In the case of Davao City, Duterte-Carpio said placing it under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or a modified ECQ (MECQ) is not recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF). "Mag-request ba og ECQ or MECQ? Wala nay ingon ana. Dati pa during our first wave, katong pinakataas nato nga mga time nga daghan kaayo ang mga cases, nag-ingon na ang IATF nga dili na mag-ECQ or mag-MECQ (Will we request to place the city under ECQ or MECQ? We didn't do that even before, during the first wave of cases, when we experienced a high number of cases. It was the IATF who said no more ECQ or MECQ)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio. The mayor referred to the "first wave" as the period when the city was placed under MGCQ and had experienced a surge of Covid-19 cases beginning mid-October 2020 until January 2021. At present, Davao City is under GCQ since November 20, 2020 and it is expected to end on March 31, 2021. If ever the IATF will approve the city to shift to MGCQ, Duterte-Carpio said the city will still implement the same Covid-19 response and action plan if ever the second wave will be experienced during this period. "We will try to prevent a second wave for Davao City," she said. One of the measures the city is implementing is its test-before-travel policy through an ordinance. "Gi-unahan na nato na sa implementation sa ordinance nga kinahanglan duna kay 24-72 hours negative RT-PCR result para ka maka check-in sa airport (You will need a negative RT-PCR test result, 24 to 72 hours before your departure date, to be able to check)," the mayor said. The city will also continue to intensify the monitoring of its communities for those with influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms. "Duna ta'y ipahigayon nga aggressive surveillance sa atong mga communities so maunahan nato ang mga [Covid-19] clusters (We will be aggressive in the surveillance of our communities to be able to prevent Covid-19 clusters)," Duterte-Carpio said. She said they will be requesting those with ILI symptoms to get tested. The city will also be reviewing its contact tracing strategy to prevent the second wave. Based on the recent Covid-19 case bulletin as of March 21, Davao City has a current active case of 326. When asked if the city is now ready to go down to MGCQ, she said: "Dili na kaayo important sa akoa sa pagkakaron kung unsa ihatag nga community quarantine classification (It is no longer important to us whatever community quarantine classification is given to us)." She added that the provisions between GCQ and MGCQ are almost the same, particularly on the sectors and offices allowed to operate, and the number of allowed operational capacity.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Davao City discontinues free RT-PCR test at airport Posted: 22 Mar 2021 06:46 AM PDT THE Davao City Government will discontinue the free reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test upon arrival in the city, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said a day before the reimposition of the "test before travel" order at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, also known as the Davao International Airport. Starting March 23, 2021, the City Government will once again require individuals entering the city through Davao International Airport a negative RT-PCR test result taken not more than 72 hours. Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview on Monday, March 22, that air passengers must secure a negative test result from their point of origin before they board a plane for Davao City. The reimposition of the mandatory test is in accordance to the City Ordinance 0477-21, Series of 2021, or an ordinance providing for mandatory testing prior to entry into the city via DIA. The ordinance was signed by the mayor on March 2. Section 4 of the ordinance states that "persons entering Davao City via the Davao International Airport are mandated to present their RT-PCR Covid-19 Test Result to Davao City officials and/or authorities, along with a valid government issued identification card." Prior to the signing of the ordinance, the city implemented the mandatory RT-PCR to all air travelers in July 2020. Those who failed to secure their test results upon arrival at the airport were swabbed for free by the city. But this was suspended on January 13, 2021. The mayor said the City Government already coordinated with all air companies to strictly impose the order to travelers bound for Davao City. Airport Monitoring Team head Generose Tecson said in a previous report that the city is redirecting its resources to address the local transmission. Tecson said the testing will resume once the Los Amigos Covid-19 Laboratory will start its operations. But Duterte-Carpio said those who would arrive in the city without a test result will still be swabbed, but the expense will be shouldered by the passenger. "But in the event nga duna gyu'y makasakay and gisugtan sa airline nga musakay nga walay test result (that there will be passengers who will be able to get on board after being allowed by the airlines), when they land here, they will be tested but it [will be] charge[d] sa ilang (to the passenger's) account," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio. The mayor said the city will also honor saliva-based RT-PCR tests taken not more than 72 hours before the flight if done by the Philippine Red Cross. Air passengers will also be required to secure their Safe Davao QR (DQR) Code, which will serve as an electronic contact tracing and travel pass platform. Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio said those who present a falsified Covid-19 test result will be swabbed and will be transported to the government's quarantine facility until the issuance of a negative test and their release into the custody of law enforcement agencies. The mayor said the RT-PCR test upon entry into the city is strictly for air passengers as "this is the fastest mode of transfer" of the virus. "We will try to prevent a second wave for Davao City. And gi-unhan na nato na sa implementation sa ordinance nga kinahanglan duna kay (We are already one step ahead with the implementation of the ordinance requiring) 24-72 hours negative RT-PCR result para ka maka check-in sa airport (for passengers to be able to check-in at the airport)," she said. She, however, assured that the city's border checkpoints are still strict in checking the place of origin of land travelers coming into the city. Once they determine that the land traveler comes from Metro Manila or Cebu, Duterte-Carpio said checkpoint officials will endorse them to the nearest swabbing centers. However, they will no longer be quarantined, and that they will only be informed of their test result. The test for land travelers will be shouldered by the city. Passing through travelers coming from the mentioned areas will no longer be required to be swabbed. The mayor said the city is looking into crafting an ordinance for the mandatory testing for land and sea travelers. Tecson told SunStar Davao in a recent report that the "test-before-travel" requirement to all passengers is not in contradiction to the issued Resolution 101 of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). According to the IATF, an LGU that will still require a Covid-19 test will be limited to RT-PCR. Meanwhile, the city, in accordance with the IATF order, no longer requires travel authority from the Joint Task Force Covid Shield and health certificates. Authorized persons outside residence (Apor) from National Government agencies and their attached agencies need only to present their identification card, travel order, and travel itinerary.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| You are subscribed to email updates from https://www.sunstar.com.ph/. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment