THE Municipal Government of Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte announced on Monday evening, December 28, its first Covid-19 fatality since the start of the pandemic in March this year.
In a statement, the Municipal Government said T69, a 27-year-old pregnant woman from Barangay Tulalian, is the municipality's first recorded Covid-19 death.
Dr. June P. Lim, municipal health officer, said the patient died while admitted at the Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum City last December 27, 2020.
Lim said T69 was admitted at DRMC on December 24 around 5:45 a.m. after complaining that she is having difficulty in breathing and pre-eclampsia.
The health officer said T69 contracted the virus from her husband, who is also Covid-19 positive, and employed at a banana plantation in Panabo City.
“She was immediately intubated due to asphyxia and subjected to an emergency caesarean operation as she delivered a live baby boy on the same date,” Lim said.
Lim added the patient’s baby was negative for Covid-19 while her husband is still isolated at DRMC, according to Lim. A postmortem swabbing was done on the patient and the result was positive for coronavirus.
With this development, the Santo Tomas Interagency Task Force reiterated its call to the public to remain vigilant and to strictly adhere to the health protocols.
As of December 28, Santo Tomas has 19 active cases out of the 69 reported cases documented by the task force.
Davao del Norte, Davao City still under GCQ
President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday evening, December 28, that the entire province of Davao del Norte and Davao City is still under general community quarantine (GCQ).
The province reverted to GCQ on December 1 after having a significant surge of cases.
The Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) noted that the Covid-19 trend in the provinces is increasing in the past days.
As of December 28, Davao del Norte has a total of 1,501 cases, with 269 active, 1,186 recoveries, and 46 deaths.
Davao del Norte, along with Davao City, and Davao del Sur, were recent subject of the aggressive community testing, a rapid and intensive Covid-19 testing done in high prevalent areas and areas where there was a significant increase in cases in a short period.
DOH-Davao Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Dr. Cleo Fe Tabada said that while the recorded daily Covid-19 cases in the entire region is going downward, she noted that some areas in the region, particularly in municipalities, have cases of local transmission.
Tabada said there is a need to intensify drive against Covid-19 within localities, especially that cases are expected to surge brought about by the holiday season. (RGL)