CAGAYAN de Oro health officials are urging the public to cooperate with coronavirus contact tracers, saying that profiling of Covid-19 cases is important in the city's decision making.
"Useless ang test result kung ineffective ang profiling. Magkooperar gyud ta mga igsoon kay importante kaayo ang profiling ana," City Mayor Oscar Moreno said during the daily press briefing in the city hall on Saturday, May 8.
"Contact racing, risk assessment, mao na ang atong heart and soul. Our decisions are guided by those," he added.
According to city epidemiologist Dr. Joselito Retuya, there are still people who are reluctant to provide the details of people they have been close with and may have infected.
"Naa gyapon ang dili cooperative like for example, ang uban overeager na sad sila, anxious na sila kay taas na kaayo ang kaso karon," Retuya said.
As of 10 p.m. of May 7, Cagayan de Oro's cumulative number of Covid-19 cases has reached 5,302, days after the city recorded more than 50 new local cases.
The number of active cases in the city have also steadily risen while its recovery rate continues to drop.
"When we do contact tracing, when we do profiling, ang kliyente ang magbuot kung kinsa iyang i-disclose nga iyang close contact," Retuya said.
"Di nato pagbut-an ang kliyente, gawas moingon kliyente nakalimot man ko," he added.
Moreno said that if the city's contact tracing, isolation units, and temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs) remain effective and efficient, there will be no need to impose a lockdown.
"I can understand naay lockdown kung di na nimo kaya ang contact tracing." Moreno said.
"Kung ingon ta di na nato kaya ang contact tracing, that's when you provide na dayon, you impose lockdown. Tanan puyo sa balay para di na kinahanglan mag contact trace kay wala na may infection outside of the homes kay di naman makalaag ang mga tao, di na makatrabaho," he added.
However, a lockdown will pose a threat to the economy of the city, Moreno further said.
The city mayor said that if there are problems in the city's TTMFs and isolation units, the City Government will not hesitate to spend for additional isolation facilities.
"We're doing everything we can. Di bale na mogasto ang city para sa additional TTMF, additional CIU (city isolation unit), basta makaya lang nato ang problema at hand," Moreno said.