Wednesday, September 1, 2021

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

Davao City mayor extends ban on non-essential events for government offices

Posted: 01 Sep 2021 07:44 AM PDT

NON-ESSENTIAL events among government offices, including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC) in Davao City, are still prohibited after Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio extended its prohibition until the end of 2021.

Duterte-Carpio issued Executive Order No. 43, prohibiting all barangay, local and national government office events including GOCC events until December 31, 2021.

This is an extension to EO 31 issued on May 24, which lapsed after August 31.

"There is a need to extend the provisions of Executive Order No. 31 series of 2021 to regulate some activities that can contribute to local transmission in the City," the mayor said in her EO.

She also said this is a precautionary measure following the surge of cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other parts of the country, and the emergence of new Covid-19 variants.

Duterte-Carpio previously said some government events had been the source of infection.

"Because nakita nato sa history sa atoang contact tracing nga dunay government events nga nahimong source or spread sa infection," Duterte-Carpio said.

(We saw in the contact tracing history that certain government events became the source of infection.)

According to the EO, non-essential activities include face-to-face events including inauguration, anniversary, thanksgiving, ribbon-cutting, blessing, turnover, groundbreaking activity, launching program, salo-salo (gathering), birthday, press conference, oath-taking program, photo opportunity, retirement honors, welcome honors, testimonial program, summer outing, team building, and all other similar events.

The mayor also ordered the suspension of all face-to-face non-emergency essential government activities including training and seminars until the end of the year.

The above events are encouraged to shift to online platforms.

However, offices under non-emergency essential government activities may apply for exemption to the City Mayor's Office.

"The letter must include a comprehensive plan on how to execute their non-emergency essential activity without creating a mass gathering situation," the EO states.

The mayor, meanwhile, allowed all disaster and emergency activities including the distribution of financial, food, and non-food items are allowed.

However, she said the distribution of food and non-food items that are not related to a disaster or emergency event should be done "house to house in the form of contactless delivery by the organizer, or in a distribution system where no mass gathering is conducted."

"These activities include but are not limited to the distribution of livelihood kits, information materials, distribution of government aid, community pantry, food aid, and all other similar activities," the EO said.

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DOH-Davao observes clustering of variant cases in region

Posted: 01 Sep 2021 07:43 AM PDT

THE Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) has seen a clustering of cases of Covid-19 variants of concern (VOC), including the highly infectious Delta variant, within households.

"We have really seen clustering of Delta cases among their closed contact, even if itong (our) whole-genome sequencing (WGS), e, parang delayed na 'yung ating mga result, nakikita natin na pag may mga clustering (has delays in the results, we can see clustering of cases)," Dr. Rachel Joy Pasion, DOH-Davao Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit head, said during the DOH-Davao virtual presser on Tuesday, August 31.

Pasion said when there is a clustering of VOCs, the transmissibility of the virus is faster compared to the ancestral variant. She added the infection mode goes faster in gatherings.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday that there is now a community transmission of the more contagious Delta variant in the Philippines. WHO also confirmed that the feared variant is now the dominant coronavirus variant in the country based on limited WGS.

Pasion said it is no longer surprising that Delta is the dominant variant in the country due to the variant's characteristic of being more contagious and infecting many people in a short time.

As of August 24, DOH-Davao reported 281 Beta and 124 Alpha variant cases, which were originally detected in South Africa and the United Kingdom, respectively. On August 29, the local DOH reported 22 additional cases of the Delta variant August 29, bringing the total cases of this type to 48.

While the Beta variant is currently the dominant variant in the region, Pasion said based on the WGS from the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center, results are showing more Delta cases.

The official also said there is a high probability that individuals who had close contact with index cases positive with Delta also test positive for the same variant.

DOH-Davao had earlier said the public should already assume that there is already a community transmission of the Delta and other VOCs after the recently confirmed cases did not have any travel history outside the region.

Health authorities, however, said the same minimum health protocols must still be followed to curb the spread of the virus.

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Vaccine bubble not applicable yet in Davao City, official says

Posted: 01 Sep 2021 07:43 AM PDT

THE Davao City Covid-19 Task Force is not keen on implementing the "bakuna (vaccine) bubble," which limits the mobility of the unvaccinated people, as the city has not yet reached the targeted herd immunity.

Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said in a radio interview on Wednesday, September 1, that this has not been discussed as of now considering the limited supply of vaccines allocated to the city.

"Dili na siya applicable because we have not achieved herd immunity yet and then dili pud ample ang atong allocation/appropriation for the vaccine kay daghan man gusto magpa-vaccine unya dili man enough ang atoang allocation at the moment," Schlosser said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

(It is not yet applicable because we have not achieved herd immunity yet. There is low ample allocation/appropriation for the vaccine because many people wanted to be vaccinated and yet we do not have enough allocation at the moment.)

The bakuna bubble concept is currently proposed in the National Capital Region, which allows fully vaccinated people full mobility but restricts the movement of those unvaccinated.

Schlosser said this proposed policy is similar to the "no vaccination card, no entry" in establishments, which the City Government also denied implementing.

She added this would be discriminatory, especially to individuals whose priority group is still not open.

"Kung ma-achieve na nato ang herd immunity, it would be sayon buhaton. At the moment, dili siya gina-entertain ," the spokesperson said.

(If we would be able to reach herd immunity, it would be easy to do. At the moment, it is not being entertained.)

According to the data of the Davao City Vaccination Cluster as of August 29, a total of 578,608 individuals were already vaccinated with the first dose and 324,741 were already fully vaccinated with the second dose.

The Davao City Government is targeting to vaccinate around 15,000 individuals per day and is targeting to vaccinate 1.2 million residents to achieve herd immunity.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is hoping the City can vaccinate its target of 1.2 million persons, at least for the first doses, before the end of 2021.

"We hope to open more vaccination sites para ma-achieve nato ang (so we can achieve the) 1.2 million first doses by October or November this year," Duterte-Carpio told media in an ambush interview on Friday morning, August 27, during the sector vaccination for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their immediate families at the Matina Town Square.

The mayor said the City ramped up its targeted daily vaccination to 15,00 from 10,000 individuals per day in a bid to vaccinate more Dabawenyos.

She admitted there are days that they were able to achieve this. She said this would depend on the days and the number of vaccination sites that are in operation.

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Secretly held religious activity leads to Covid-19 outbreak in Buda

Posted: 01 Sep 2021 07:41 AM PDT

A SECRETLY held religious activity in Barangay Buda in Marilog District, Davao City resulted in a Covid-19 outbreak after nearly a hundred religious members of two different church groups tested positive for coronavirus.

Delfin Galicia Jr., Barangay Buda captain, told SunStar Davao in a phone interview on Wednesday, September 1, that their barangay once recorded zero cases since the start of the pandemic but recently recorded 99 positive individuals.

Galicia said the 99 positives were those who were subjected to be swabbed in the two-round community swabbing after having close contact with a 36-year-old female resident and church member, who succumbed to the disease on August 23.

The barangay official said the deceased patient did not disclose her real health status.

"Og wala kini namatay, wa dayon namo na-determine nga naa diay siyay ginabati. Based man gud sa pag-monitor namo, pinaagi samong health workers, ang ilaha rang tubag kay okay ra daw sila," he said.

(If the patient didn't die, we won't be able to determine that she is feeling ill. Based on the monitoring of our health workers, they only responded that they are okay.)

He added the family is not cooperative with their health workers.

"Ambot wala ko kabalo unsay rason nila pero ako na-determine nga katarungan is tungod sa ilang pagtuo," Galicia said.

(I don't know what's their reason, but we were able to determine that is due to their belief.)

Based on their investigation, church members gathered in a venue where they had their activities. Health protocols were also not observed during the activity.

He added that the venue was in a secluded area where barangay officials cannot monitor them.

Galicia also said the church members are not yet vaccinated.

"Medyo gahi gyud og ulo, dili mutuo [og Covid-19] ug dili magpa-vaccine," he said.

(They are hard-headed. They do not believe in Covid-19 and they refused to be vaccinated.)

Aside from the community swabbing, the barangay is also currently conducting expanded contact tracing to all close-generation contact.

Galicia admitted that he was disappointed with what happened.

"Hapit na mag-two years ang atong pandemic, ang barangay nato is zero ever since. Karon lang siya naing-ani. Medyo subo huna-hunaon kay kung cooperative lang sila, dili unta maing-ani ang kaso," he said.

(It has been nearly two years since the pandemic started, and our barangay has recorded zero cases ever since. We only experienced this right now. It is quite disappointing because if they were only cooperative, this wouldn't have happened in the first place.)

Buda, a highland tourist area in the city, has remained Covid-19-free since the pandemic started in March 2020. However, the barangay started recording cases on August 3, 2021, wherein three residents tested positive for the virus. All of the patients, who were asymptomatic, already recovered.

He said they will further intensify their patrolling and monitoring on non-essential gatherings.

Galicia suspected that the carrier of the virus in their barangay might be from downtown in Davao City or Bukidnon, its neighboring area.

Operations of tourism establishments are currently suspended to curb the spread of the virus in the area.

He also urged residents to report any symptoms for immediate monitoring and medical intervention.

Based on the August 30 to September 4 barangay risk classification, 10 of the 16 critical risk barangays are from far-flung areas.

Dr. Rachel Joy Pasion, DOH-Davao Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit head, said during the DOH-Davao virtual presser on Tuesday, August 31, that other far-flung barangays in the region are currently experiencing a gradual surge in cases.

"It's because nakikita naman natin (we can see) how mobile the people are right now," Pasion said.

She added that traveling from one place to another has also been essential especially for those who are essential workers and those with business.

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