THE Davao City Covid-19 Task Force is proposing to penalize individuals who will not submit themselves for testing.
Davao City Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Marjorie Culas said in a virtual presser that the Covid-19 Task Force passed a resolution to the 19th City Council to enact an ordinance penalizing violators of the mandatory swabbing.
This is an accordance to Executive Order (EO) 20, "An Order Providing for Mandatory Swabbing of All F1, F2, And F3 Contacts of an RT-PCR [Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] Confirmed Positive Case of Covid-19 In Davao City."
According to the EO, F1 contacts are those first-generation contacts of an RT-PCR confirmed Covid-19 positive case, while F2 contacts are those second-generation contacts of an RT-PCR confirmed Covid-19 positive case (close contacts of F1), and F3 contacts are those third-generation contacts of an RT-PCR confirmed Covid-19 positive case (close contacts of F2).
The EO states that all F1 are required to undergo home isolation while waiting for their result, while F2 and F3 can go back to their work while waiting for their result. But they are still advised to undergo home isolation, if possible.
Culas said some F1 contacts defy this order, while some F2 and F3 contacts refused to be swabbed.
She said some of the contact tracers experienced that some index cases will not disclose their close contacts.
Some of the close contacts turn off their phone while some do not respond to their phone calls, the health official said.
This is also similar to what they experience to second and third generation (F2 and F3) contacts.
Culas said there is already an initial meeting with the city councilors and other lead agencies to discuss the proposed ordinance.
"I hope it will come out soon para mabigyan natin ng leksyon 'tong mga violators kasi mahirap, marami nang natatamaan, at nadadamay (to serve as a warning to violators because many people are affected) because of this uncooperative people who are carriers of the virus," she said during the Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) virtual presser on Monday, June 7.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said she will await the ordinance once it will be approved on final reading.
The mayor admitted that only an ordinance can impose a penalty.
Duterte-Carpio admitted that they are still encountering the same challenges in its Covid-19 response more than a year since the pandemic.
The mayor also said that some patients are hard to find as they do not “truthfully” provide their accurate contact details and address.
"Duna pud tay pasyente nga di na makita. Lahi ang address, lahi ang contact number (We have some patients that are nowhere to be found. The address and contact number are different), and when you access the address and contact number, wala na didto ang tao (they are no longer there)," Duterte-Carpio said.
The mayor, meanwhile, reminded those who tested positive despite having been completely vaccinated that they can still get infected with Covid-19. Although they won't be experiencing severe and critical conditions, they can still experience mild conditions.
"Duna gihapo'y testing na kinahanglan buhaton bisan nabakunahan naka, especially if duna kay contact with a [Covid-19] positive case (Testing is still important despite having been vaccinated, especially if you have a close contact with Covid-19 positive individual)," she said.