DELFIN Galicia Jr., Barangay Buda captain, said in a phone interview with SunStar Davao on Wednesday, September 1, that secretly held religious activities in the area may have contributed to the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the area.
According to the guidelines set by the Inter-agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), religious gatherings are allowed up to 30 percent of the venue capacity, subject to practicing of minimum health standards.
However, Galicia said based on their investigation, church members were gathered in a venue in the area but were not observing health protocols. The venue was located in an area where it is not easy for them to monitor.
He also said the church members were still unvaccinated.
"Medyo gahi gyud og ulo, dili mutuo [og Covid-19] ug dili magpa-vaccine (They are hard-headed. They do not believe in Covid-19 and they refused to be vaccinated),” he said.
Galicia said there used to be zero Covid-19 cases in the barangay. But following these religious gatherings, the cases have spiked to 99. This group of patients had close contact with a 36-year-old female resident and church member, who succumbed to the disease on August 23. They suspect that the church member may have been infected by someone from downtown Davao City or Bukidnon, its neighboring area.
Physical gatherings in places of worship are a common sight in the Philippines. For many, coming to these places of worship is their safe place. It is a place for them to have fellowship with the people with whom they share the same beliefs.
However, with the pandemic and the presence of Sars-CoV-2 variants, these gatherings are at risk of becoming super spreaders if minimum public health standards are not followed. Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have seen and read reports of how several religious gatherings have become hot spots of Covid-19 transmission.
While we continue to respect each others' beliefs, it is important for the leaders to implement these minimum health protocols. These are the guidelines set by government and health authorities to ensure the safety of the people. Going beyond the allowed capacity for religious gatherings and not strictly implementing the protocols will put people at risk.
It is also important for people, who come from areas where there is a high incidence of Covid-19 transmission, to be more mindful when going to far-flung communities. For these communities, it is not easy to seek medication at a health facility that could meet their needs. Most of them are also unvaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to the Covid-19.
There is a need for everyone to cooperate for everyone's safety. This means that we wear our face masks and face shields, observe social distancing, and regularly wash or sanitize our hands when at these places of worship.