Friday, September 3, 2021

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

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

Sta. Maria placed under MECQ

Posted: 03 Sep 2021 05:08 AM PDT

DESPITE the surge in Covid-19 cases, along with the recent detection of nine Delta variant-positive specimens, the municipality of Sta. Maria, Davao Occidental has been downgraded to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until September 15, 2021.

Mayor Josephine Mariscal issued Executive Order No. 15, which took effect on Wednesday, September 1, placing the entire municipality under MECQ.

Mariscal also placed Sitio Badilla in Barangay Poblacion under granular lockdown under the same period.

To contain the rising number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the municipality, the entire Sta. Maria was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from August 15 to 31.

Barangays Kinilidan, San Antonio, Datu Daligasao, Buca, San Agustin and Poblacion were under hard lockdown from August 24 to 31.

This is in pursuant to Provincial Executive Order No. 20, series of 2021, and Municipal Executive Order No. 12, series of 2021.

Mariscal said there is a need to revive the local economy while strictly emphasizing the adherence of minimum health protocols as factors of placing the area under MECQ.

In addition to existing guidelines, the municipal government added schedules according to cluster as another clustered barangay's market day in Poblacion is adopted.

Local transportations are still allowed to operate, provided that protocols must be followed.

Non-essential establishments are prohibited, such as ukay-ukay, entertainment venues, recreational venues. amusement parks, indoor and outdoor sports, gambling areas, tourist attractions, beach resorts, venues for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (Mice), personal care services, indoor dine-in services, and all forms of event-organizing services.

All residents may be allowed for essential travels provided that each outbound travel will not exceed 24 hours.

Curfew is from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., while the "No Movement Sunday" also stays.

Restaurants and other food service establishments are allowed for take-out only.

The municipality will also be strictly implementing the 24-hour liquor ban, including selling and drinking in public areas.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 vaccination will continue in order to achieve herd immunity.

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Davao Oriental placed under ECQ September 8-21

Posted: 03 Sep 2021 05:06 AM PDT

SOUNDING the alarm of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the Provincial Government of Davao Oriental officially declared a two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from September 8 to 21, 2021.

The Provincial Government broke the news on Friday, September 3, following an emergency meeting led by Governor Nelson Dayanghirang.

The decision to place the province under a stricter quarantine restriction was unanimously agreed upon by all local chief executives of the province.

Among the salient policies under the ECQ include curfew hours from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., and the imposition of a 24-hour liquor ban.

The Provincial Government will be implementing strict border control to deter non-essential travels. There will be increased visibility of law enforcers who will give citation tickets to violators. Wakes will be limited to only three days.

As of the latest report, Covid-19 cases in the province have already reached 5,583, of which 1,227 are active. Meanwhile, the number of deaths has already reached 159, prompting the Provincial Task Force to heighten protocols to prevent the further spread of the virus.

The Provincial Government has yet to provide more comprehensive guidelines.

Dayanghirang said in a radio interview on Thursday, September 2, that Covid-19 cases in the province have been increasing in recent weeks.

He added the recently detected Delta positive specimens in the province possibly contributed to a surge in cases.

The governor said he called an emergency meeting with the mayors to formalize their request on Friday, September 3.

Dayanghirang said the recommendation comes a day after the entire province recorded 238 daily new cases, the highest since the pandemic started.

"Actually, ang atong (our) provincial hospital, so far puno na gyud kaayo (is already fully occupied). Ang atong (Our) isolation facilities, hapit-hapit na mapuno (is also almost full)," he said.

Prior to the surge, he said the province already anticipated it by adding more bed capacities. It still was not able to anticipate the widespread transmission caused by the highly infectious variant.

Dayanghirang reminded his constituents to minimize their movements around the province to curb the spread of the virus.

The Department of Health-Davao Region, as of August 31, detected 10 Delta positive specimens from Davao Oriental, most of which were from Mati City.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases recently extended the quarantine status of the entire province under general community quarantine with no restrictions until September 7.

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28% of eligible Dabawenyos vaccinated

Posted: 03 Sep 2021 05:03 AM PDT

SIX months since the Covid-19 vaccination kicked off in Davao City, around 28 percent of Dabawenyos are already fully vaccinated.

Based on the August 31 data of the Davao City Vaccination Cluster, 329,203 individuals have received their two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Of the total, 43,967 are from the Priority Group A1 (healthcare workers), 80,416 are A2 (senior citizens), 112,928 are A3 (persons with comorbidities), 84,587 are A4 (essential workers), and 7,305 are A5 (poor population).

A total of 590,318 individuals have been jabbed for the first dose. Based on the breakdown, 57,159 are A1, 87,037 (A2), 156,969 (A3), 254,447 (A4), and 34,706 (A5).

Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said in a radio interview on Friday, September 3, that there are around 49 percent of Dabawenyos vaccinated for the first dose.

Schlosser said the recently rolled out mobile vaccination of the City Mayor's Office and the Sanguniang Panlungsod (SP) will help City Councilors in expanding the vaccination program, especially in the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (Gida).

The SP-led mobile vaccination drive has now served 4,700 Dabawenyos since its rollout on August 30.

She added that the city had also been rolling out mobile vaccination for the indigent population in Baguio District.

"Logistics and manpower, we can afford that but for the allocation (of vaccines), we are reliant on the national government and DOH. With the request of our good mayor, I hope and pray ma achieve nato ang (that we can achieve) 15,000 vaccinees a day," Schlosser said.

She also said with the rising number of highly infectious Covid-19 Delta variant cases, the public must continue to strictly comply with the minimum public health standards of wearing face masks, wearing face shields, frequent hand washing, social distancing and getting vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the City Government accelerated anti-Covid vaccination for priority groups as two more vaccination sites opened at the San Roque Elementary School in Bo. Obrero, Lacson St, Poblacion District and the Don Juan Elementary School in Toril, Davao City.

With the total vaccination sites now at 20, the City Government is targeting to increase jabs to 15,000 per day in a race to stem transmission of the more contagious Sars-CoV-2 Delta.

The City Government is also adding more health workers for deployment to vaccination sites.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio earlier said the City is in the process of hiring health workers for deployment to seven more vaccination sites as it aims to fast-track and increase the inoculation of Dabawenyos against the coronavirus disease in the coming months.

Last week, Schlosser said the City is preparing for the logistics required for the vaccination of Moro communities.

Mobile vaccination in the area of responsibility of City councilors also continued, reaching more people and barangays.

The City Government targets to inoculate 1.2 million Dabawenyos for the first dose by November.

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SPMC chief suspects delta variant causing Covid-19 surge at hospital

Posted: 03 Sep 2021 05:02 AM PDT

THE Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) has been experiencing a large volume of patients seeking medical treatment, which has been suspected to be caused by the highly infectious Delta variant, the hospital's chief said.

SPMC Chief Dr. Ricardo Audan told SunStar Davao in a phone interview on Friday, September 3, 2021, this is not the first time the hospital has been overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.

He said the number of critical patients waiting to be admitted is higher compared to the previous surge.

"This has something to do with the Delta variant. Kasi ang characteristics ng hawahan is mabilis ang transmissibility, mabilis makaparami ng pasyente. (Because the characteristics of the transmission is faster, infecting more patients.) So it could be a Deta variant," Audan said.

While he said the confirmatory test from the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) would take almost a month, the current situation should already be assumed to be caused by the highly infectious variant.

The official also said most critical patients were unvaccinated.

SPMC still remains under critical level as both ward and intensive care unit beds are overwhelmed with admitted Covid-19 patients.

As of August 30, both SPMC's 448 Covid-19 ward and 92 intensive care unit beds had been fully occupied.

Despite the large number of admitted patients, Audan said they have not yet reached the overspill situation of India and some parts of the Philippines.

The SPMC chief said the 44-bed modular hospital, constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways, helped decongest the patients in the hospital's emergency room.

This is in response to photos that circulated online wherein the hospital were seen having long queues of patients waiting for their turn to get admitted to the Covid-19 ward.

All of the patients had been accommodated, he said. However, patients that could no longer be catered to would either be transferred to private hospitals or at the Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City.

"Kung (If) worse comes to worse, the City Government and the Department of Health should also strengthen nila ang (the) private hospitals to expand their Covid-19 wards," he said.

Since the One Hospital Command Center was strengthened in Davao Region, only few Covid-19 patients outside Davao City had been admitted to SPMC.

Meanwhile, he said SPMC's two oxygen plants, which have six generators in total, could only produce 875 tanks daily, which is below its actual need of 1,125 tanks. This prompted them to source out from two private oxygen suppliers to fill the supply gap of 250 tanks.

To anticipate the continuing surge, Audan said the City Government is planning to expand the Covid-19 ward by utilizing the facility at the SPMC-Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, which has a total of 25 to 30 beds.

Audan admitted that manpower remains a challenge for the SPMC's Covid-19 response due to the lack of nursing staff.

He said they already merged some areas in the hospital to reassign some of the nursing staff to man the modular hospital.

Another challenge is their workers who test positive from the virus. Although he said all of them are only experiencing mild symptoms since the majority of its employees are fully vaccinated.

Audan, meanwhile, urged the public to continuously abide by the minimum health protocols not only to help themselves but also the medical healthcare workers who are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Health and art

Posted: 03 Sep 2021 05:00 AM PDT

LOCAL artist Victor "Bong" Espinosa finds the means to address his artistic curiosity by using the unexplored medium of surgical masks for his latest collection.

"What happens if you paint on the side that is light blue? What good does it do?...This creative collection explores the might of the face mask as a primary non-pharmaceutical tool to prevent the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 virus and to merge it with art that heals," said Espinosa.

Born and raised in Davao City, Espinosa grew up under the guidance of an artist father. Because of this, he had his fair share of experience and exposure to visual arts. He took up Architecture at the University of Mindanao, but his years in the university studying architecture has only ignited his passion for visual arts. He became a regular at art competitions and workshops.

From September 25 to October 14, 2021, Espinosa will stage a solo exhibit dubbed as "FACEMASKS a.wear.ness: Uncover when it's over" at La Herencia Arts and Events Pavilion along F. Torres Street, Davao City (beside Davao Convention Center). His health and art advocacy artdemic targets to showcase 40 handpainted facemasks revealing Espinosa's creative expression amid the pandemic. Exploring a rare medium as a face mask reveals what comes out of an artist when he challenges himself, especially with whatever size of canvas he can get his hands on.

"This health and art advocacy is a show that features 40 framed hand painted face masks as pandemic souvenir art pieces that will steal your heart but won't break your wallet at the time of the pandemic. Instead, let these colorful and cheerful art pieces satisfy your curiosity and lift your heart with an infusion of beauty and hope," he added.

After practicing his craft for more than 20 years now, Espinosa had already staged at least 16 solo exhibitions -- the latest was last year, September 18, which he called Padayon that roughly translates to "carry on." This solo exhibit also showcased the painful and tragic experience of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But despite this, he said "the challenge to survive, exist, and nurture our craftsmanship must continue."

For those interested in seeing Espinosa's solo exhibit on September 25 onwards at La Herencia Arts and Events Pavilion, they are reminded to follow all health protocols.

You may contact the artist through 09177015001 or 09994876334. You may also message La Herencia Arts and Events Pavilion through their Facebook page.

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