Wednesday, May 26, 2021

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Davao City to start vaccinating persons with comorbidities on May 31

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:34 AM PDT

AFTER vaccinating residents under the A2 priority list or senior citizens, the City Health Office (CHO) said they will officially open vaccination hubs for A3 priority list or those with comorbidities on Monday, May 31, 2021.

"By Monday, we're going to open up already group A3. So we will cater to people with comorbidities. Under group A3, manginahanglan ta og medical certification and clearance gikan sa inyong private and government physician," said Dr. Ashley Lopez, CHO acting head, in an interview with Davao City Disaster Radio Wednesday, May 26.

Qualified under the A3 priority group are those aged 18 to 59 years old with existing health conditions such as chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, malignancy, diabetes, obesity, chronic liver disease, neurologic disease, and immunodeficiency state, among others.

According to Lopez, those who fall under this category and would want to be vaccinated can register at the nearest health centers. The City Government of Davao Facebook page posted on Tuesday, May 25, that those who wish to register can do so via Davao City vaccination hotlines 0961-073-4965 (Smart) or 0927-022-9087 (Globe).

Lopez clarified that the patient must seek certification from their private or public physician to make sure their condition is stable.

"We will only cater to comorbidities with stable conditions. I-control sa nato atong blood pressure and blood sugar (Let's control our blood pressure and blood sugar first). You have to take your medicines seriously," he said.

The medical certificate, medicine prescription, hospital records (discharge summary or medical abstract), or surgical records and pathology reports must have been released not exceeding 18 months for it to be valid.

Despite the vaccination schedule still for senior citizens, various vaccination hubs, such as SM Lanang Premier, have already inoculated a few non-senior citizens with comorbidities.

When asked about this, Dr. Lopez said these might be those who walked in as appointments have yet to be accepted.

"Mga nag-walk in siguro. Basin gi-accomodate na lang samtang naa pay bakuna for humanitarian purposes. (Maybe these are the walk-ins. Maybe they were accommodated by the personnel while there are still vaccines available for humanitarian purposes.) As much as possible, we don't want to disappoint the people pero may limitation po (but there is a limitation)," he said.

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Quarantine, isolation facilities in Davao in 'critical' levels; ICU beds at SPMC fully occupied

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:31 AM PDT

ASIDE from the state-owned Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), Davao City's Covid-19 quarantine and isolation facilities are almost "critical" with a high occupancy rate of nearly 60 percent because of the recent increase in Covid-19 cases in the city.

City Health Office (CHO) Acting Head Dr. Ashley Lopez said in a radio interview on Wednesday, May 26, that almost 60 percent out of the 17 facilities have been occupied and classified as a moderate risk level.

Once it reaches 70 percent and above, Lopez said it will fall under the critical level.

Lopez said they had started to reopen some unoccupied temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs) to cater to the high number of new cases lately.

Prior to the surge, he said the City's TTMF and isolation facility occupancy is at an average of 15 to 20-percent occupancy.

The health official said they are trying to prevent the possibility of having confirmed Covid-19 patients going on home quarantining, similar to what happened in Metro Manila due to the exhaustion of health care facilities.

Lopez said close contacts who will test negative in the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test are allowed to go under home quarantine.

SPMC Chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said in a recent interview that the hospital has experienced an uptick in admitted patients.

As of May 25, all 35 of the ICU beds designated for Covid-19 patients at SPMC were occupied, while 254 of 292 of the ward beds were occupied.

Audan said both bed utilization rates were under "critical" state. They are now asking private hospitals to start admitting critical and severe Covid-19 patients.

Lopez also confirmed that SPMC's bed occupancy is currently "overwhelmed."

"Ang ICU beds, gamay ra kaayo gi-allocate for now, pero puno-puno pirmi. (ICU beds have few allocations for now, but they are always fully occupied.) So we are overwhelmed right now with patients," he said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

Lopez said some private hospitals are gradually admitting Covid-19 patients.

However, he said no hospitals are still capable of achieving the 20-percent allocation of their total beds for Covid-19 patients.

"Dapat gani pag under surge, 30 percent ang participation sa atong private hospitals (During when its an under surge, bed allocation for private hospitals must be at 30 percent) but unfortunately, dili pa na nila ma-acquire (they cannot acquire for now) because we have some technical human resource issues," Lopez said.

The official said the city government is already augmenting additional support and resources to the private hospital's needs to cater to more patients. These include financial and technical support, ventilators, and additional manpower.

He added that the city has already set aside appropriations to be given to each private hospital that will be catering to Covid-19 patients.

"Hinaut nga puhon, ato na silang (We are hoping that in the coming days)... this will boost our allocated Covid[-19] beds from the private hospitals. For now, nagadaghan ang (there is an increase of) admission," Lopez said.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview on Monday, May 24, that she was prompted to tap private hospitals to reopen their admissions due to the recent situation at SPMC.

"We are not comfortable with what is happening right now because naa nay pasyente atong mga (there are now admitted patients in) private hospitals. And we hope nga ma-flatten nato ni nga curve (to flatten the curve)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

Based on the May 25 data of the Department of Health-Davao Region, Davao City had a total of 16,101 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 1,111 active cases, 14,251 recoveries, and 739 deaths.

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Igacos mayor, Davao Oriental guv test positive for coronavirus

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:31 AM PDT

TWO local chief executives in Davao Region confirmed that they have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, May 25, Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang announced that he and his wife, Nanette Dayanghirang, tested positive for the virus.

The governor said they received the results on Monday, May 24, and both of them immediately self-isolated.

"Gikasubo nako nga ipahibalo kaninyo nga nagpositive ko ug ang akong kapikas sa [Covid]-19. Nadawat nako ang result niadtong May 24, human mi magpa swab test niadtong May 23 sa dihang nibati mi ug mild nga kalintura sugod niadtong May 19," Dayanghirang said.

(I am deeply sad to inform you that I and my wife tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. I received the results last May 24 after undergoing a swab test on May 23, after we started experiencing mild fever starting on May 19.)

The governor said they still have mild fever and are experiencing other mild symptoms of Covid-19, but they are under close monitoring for treatment, contact tracing, and testing.

The governor also called on those who were in close contact with him last week to undergo self-quarantine and to follow health protocols while awaiting instructions.

"Isip usa ka frontliner, makaingon ta nga normal lang kini apan mao kini ang realidad nga giatubang sa akong pamilya sa pagka-karon," he said.

(As a frontliner, we can say that this is just normal, but this is the reality that our family is facing right now.)

Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) Mayor Al David Uy on Wednesday afternoon, May 26, also confirmed in a statement that he also tested positive for the coronavirus.

"I am asymptomatic and now in isolation," Uy said.

The mayor also encouraged all his close contacts since last week to submit themselves for testing at the City Health Office.

"Rest assured that the City Mayor's Office and the rest of the City Government of Samal will continue to function while I am isolated," Uy said.

Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) Director Dr. Annabelle Yumang said in a virtual presser on Monday, May 24, that the entire region is under a surge after it reached the 2,000-mark of Covid-19 active cases, which was last recorded in February this year.

Yumang attributed the complacency of some in observing the minimum health protocols as a major factor to the increase in Covid-19 cases.

Based on the DOH-Davao data as of May 25, Davao Region had a total of 26,413 cases, with 2,072 active cases, 23,268 recoveries, and 1,073 deaths.

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Justice sought for slain barangay captain

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:31 AM PDT

COLLEAGUES, friends, and family of Barangay Captain Roderico Llubit, more known as "Tata Llubit" of Brgy. 9-A, Poblacion, Davao City, remember the latter's dedication in his work as a village chairman who always puts his constituents' best interest first before his.

Llubit was shot dead by unidentified assailants around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at his residence.

Following his death, Davao City First District Representative Paolo Duterte and Bartna Captain January Duterte of Catalunan Grande issued a P300,000 reward to any person who has information on the suspect/s of Llubit's killing.

It was learned that after Llubit had his dinner, he went to his veranda to feed his cats when the suspect/s, who was waiting for him, shot him.

According to Llubit's neighbors, multiple shots were heard, which resulted in his instantaneous death.

Davao City Police Office (DCPO) Director Police Colonel Kirby John Kraft personally went to the crime scene and ordered the San Pedro Police Station to dig deeper into the incident to solve the crime at the soonest possible time.

Based on the initial investigation of DCPO, the killing of Llubit may have to do with the planned demolition at Purok 10, Barangay 9-A.

"Investigation further revealed that the motive of the incident might have something to do with the ongoing land dispute in the area of Purok 10, Muslim Village, San Rafael, Brgy. 9-A, Davao City, wherein the landowner designated the victim to negotiate with the squatters to self-demolish their structure. However, only half of the squatters agree to self-demolish with compensation, while half of them resisted and got angry with the victim," DCPO said in a statement.

Police authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, Llubit's family is calling for justice.

Llubit was known as a Davao City barangay captain who led in implementing peace and order in his jurisdiction.

Before he became the barangay captain, Llubit was a barangay police (tanod) and was voted and served as a barangay councilor for a long time.

He remained single and was helping his family until his death.

He was among the barangay captains who was always interviewed by the press for his accomplishments in the peace and order program in the barangay.

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No ECQ in Davao City

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:24 AM PDT

DAVAO City is not shifting back to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) anytime soon, the City Health Office (CHO) clarified in response to several online posts.

"Davao City is still under general community quarantine, and that will be effective until the end of the month. Depende na... Ang assessment, magdepende na sa IATF. So dili ang LGU [local government unit] ang nagabuot sa LGU Risk Classification sa usa ka lugar or isa ka syudad or probinsya (The assessment will depend upon the IATF. An LGU has no control over the LGU Risk Classification that will be classified on a certain city or province)," CHO Acting Head Dr. Ashley Lopez said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on Wednesday morning, May 27.

Lopez said Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio can only make a recommendation but the final decision on what quarantine status the city will be placed in will be coming from the IATF.

Based on the previous recommendation from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), Davao City is still under general community quarantine (GCQ) until May 31.

Social media posts have been circulating that Davao City will be placed under ECQ after the city government of General Santos City announced that it will revert to GCQ from modified GCQ (MGCQ) effective Tuesday, 25 May, until June 30, 2021.

Lopez said the viral online posts may also be in response to the recent surge the city is currently experiencing after some months.

"Maybe katong mga ga-post ana sa Facebook, nanghinaot lang na sila. (Maybe those who are posting this one on Facebook are expecting this.) They have worries... probably aware sila nga gasaka ang atong kaso, and they wish... pero hindi po 'yun ganon kadali (probably they are aware of the current surge of cases, but it is not that easy to elevate to a stricter classification)," he said, adding that several factors must be considered before placing the entire city under a strict quarantine status.

"We have to consider not only health issues here, but we also have to consider economic factors. Ang atong gobyerno naay limitasyon sa pag-provide og (The government has a limitation in providing) goods and services for our people," Lopez added.

Davao City has been under GCQ since November 20, 2020 after the city experienced an uptick of active Covid-19 cases beginning mid-October last year until January 2021. During that period, the city's active cases reached a peak of 2,500.

The city experienced a downtrend of cases beginning the first week of February this year. However, the GCQ status in the city remains as of writing.

Davao City was placed under ECQ during the early days of the pandemic from April to May 15, 2020. The city was then under GCQ from May 16 to June 30. The city went down to MGCQ from July 1 to November 19, 2020.

Duterte-Carpio, in her previous interviews and video address, said the city cannot afford to go back to ECQ.

She did not disregard the possibility of the city going back to ECQ if minimum health protocols will continue to be neglected.

The mayor attributed the current surge to mass gatherings and complacency in observing minimum health protocols.

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte is set to announce the latest IATF quarantine status before the end of May.

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