THE Davao City Government is planning to expand its Covid-19 swabbing booths and testing centers in anticipation of the possible surge of new cases next year attributed to the Holiday season.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview on Monday, December 14, 2020, that the holiday season, brought about by parties and gatherings that some people might attend, might push the number of coronavirus cases next year.
"Nagsulti na ang health experts na, of course ang batasan... human nature [na] dinha nga kung hoidays and Christmas season, magtapok gyud ang mga tao. Once na magtapok na ang mga tao, mao kana siya ang pinaka-favorable para sa kini nga virus because naa siya'y kaambakan na human bodies," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview via 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
(Health experts have already warned that it is expected that there will be gatherings this Christmas. This is a favorable environment for the virus to transfer from one person to another.)
As early as November, the mayor said health experts already warned the probable surge of cases after the Christmas season.
"We need to watch out for the surge after the Christmas Season kay ma-exacerbate nang Covid-19 nato na mga cases because of panagtapok (because our Covid-19 cases might increase because of gatherings) this Christmas," she said.
Expanding Covid-19 facilities
Duterte-Carpio said the City Government is currently working on improving and expanding its Covid-19 facilities.
She said the city is planning to expand its swabbing centers to other areas in the city to decentralize its current facilities -- Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) and Sta. Ana Health Center.
In terms of testing facilities, the city has three: SPMC, Davao One World Diagnostic Center and Davao Doctors Hospital.
The mayor said the city will be adding two more testing centers -- a co-management partnership with the Brokenshire Hospital and Los Amigos City Health Office Covid-19 Laboratory, which is still under accreditation.
Once it is completed, she said this would not only help in the city but also other neighboring cities and municipalities.
She also said they are currently scouting for two more areas for the city's temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF). The city currently has 19.
Duterte-Carpio said the city government will have to stop using the Alternative Learning School (ALS) beside People’s Park as a TTMF to give way for the construction of a new building. The ALS was among the identified TTMFs in the city when the pandemic started.
The city also reorganized its 1,500 contact tracers with the assistance of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Department of Interior and Local Government to improve the city's case finding and contact tracing efforts to detect or trace those who have made close contacts with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 patients.
"There are new talks na ayuson pa sistema sa (to improve the system of our) contact tracing that will operate as a call center. Ginahan-ay pa na siya karon (We are still ironing out the details)," she said.
Incorpoating DQR
The City has yet to incorporate the Safe Davao QR (DQR) code in its contact tracing system.
"Ang atong QR code wala pa siya sa contact tracing module sa DQR. Puwede lang na siya ma-access sa atong contact tracers (Our code is not yet part of the contact tracing module of the DQR. And it can only be accessed by our contact tracers),” she said.
The mayor clarified, "the DQR will not tell you kung kinsa ang (who is) positive, but it will trace kung unsa ang movement sa nag-positive (the movement of the positive patient)."
Christmas measures
Davao City, currently under general community quarantine (GCQ), is imposing strict measures against mass gatherings this Christmas.
This is in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 57, entitled "An Order Regulating Mass Gatherings and Prohibiting Non-Essential Travel Within Davao City," which will be implemented until December 31, 2020.
The EO regulates mass gatherings in all public places to lower the risk of transmission.
According to Section 20 of the EO, the city only allows gatherings for personal milestones, urgent government and business purposes, but shall be limited to a maximum of 25 guests.
Extravagant Christmas activities and gatherings are discouraged, in accordance with EO 25, declaring April 17 to December 31, 2020, as a period of mourning and vigilance as global deaths due to the highly infectious coronavirus continue to rise.
The mayor had constantly reminded the public to skip parties and gatherings this year due to the ongoing threat of Covid-19. Instead, the public is urged to hold celebrations virtually.
She had also warned those who will be holding “secret” parties, especially those in the local government unit offices.
She also reminded those who will be having parties within their residences to limit them among household members for easy contact tracing.
The mayor also encouraged the public to not spend their money on unnecessary things, but use them for necessities.