A HEALTH official of the Provincial Government of Davao Oriental expressed alarm over the increasing number of Covid-19 deaths in the province, saying that they are recording at least two deaths per day.
Provincial Task Force on Covid-19 Action Officer Dr. Reden Bersaldo reported during an emergency meeting on Friday, September 3, 2021, that the surge in cases has placed the province under Alert Level IV and categorized with a high epidemic risk level.
As of September 3, Covid-19 cases in the province reached 5,653, of which 1,174 were active.
Bersaldo said the province recorded a 286-percent increase in the number of cases in just a matter of three months.
He identified the City of Mati and the municipalities of Baganga, Governor Generoso and Lupon as the local government units (LGUs) that are highly affected by the surge.
Based on the Covid-19 status report, Davao Oriental had a positivity rate of 14 percent, while the recovery rate plummeted to 75.2 percent.
Case fatality ratio, on the other hand, rose to 2.8 percent, which is already almost double the national rate of 1.7 percent.
Meanwhile, Covid-19-related deaths have also increased. For August 2021 alone, Davao Oriental already recorded 55 deaths out of the total 159 deaths.
“That’s a rate of two people a day dying in the whole province of Davao Oriental,” Bersaldo said.
The health official added that 90.6 percent of the total number of deaths were unvaccinated and mostly with comorbidities, while 8.8 percent already had their first dose. The remaining 0.6 percent of the deaths were fully vaccinated.
Bersaldo cited the presence of new variants, the unrestricted movement of the people and the continuing disregard to the minimum health protocols as the main culprits for the surge.
He said if this goes on, isolation facilities will be congested and could no longer accommodate additional cases.
Bersaldo also cited the public’s disregard for health protocols and lack of seriousness of the pandemic as reasons for the surge, adding that some attend social gatherings without using face masks and disregarding proper physical distancing.
“People just go on with their lives. But if you try to look at our hospitals and isolation facilities, it’s heartbreaking to see our health workers who are all very tired and almost giving up,” Bersaldo said, adding that many of the health workers have wanted to quit amidst the surge.
ECQ in Davao Oriental
In a press statement, the Provincial Task Force on Covid-19 in concurrence with all local chief executives of the province recently agreed to heighten the province’s quarantine classification to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting September 8 to 21.
This is to address the alarming surge in Covid-19 cases that have already started to overwhelm health and isolation facilities here.
Governor Nelson Dayanghirang earlier said the local government is mulling for the highest quarantine restriction due to the increasing Covid-19 cases in the province for the past weeks.
With the implementation of the two-week ECQ, Bersaldo said health workers will be able to be given a breather, which will enable them to focus on treating the existing Covid-19 cases.
Unlike 2020's ECQ, which covered a hard lockdown, the current ECQ is not that restrictive.
“The only compromise is to limit non-essential activities,” he said.
He referred to non-essential activities as social gatherings, gambling, parties and religious gathering, among others.
Other policies to be implemented under the ECQ include a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., a 24-hour liquor ban, monitoring of establishments and shortening the number of days for wakes.
Aside from the ECQ, Bersaldo said vaccination is one of the topmost solutions to address the Covid-19 surge.
Meanwhile, Dayanghirang directed the security sector to heighten law enforcement on the ECQ, he reminded the general public to abide by the guidelines as ECQ will be strictly implemented.
As of September 4, Covid-19 cases in the province already reached 5,732, of which 1,192 were active. Meanwhile, the number of deaths reached 166, prompting the Provincial Task Force to heighten protocols to prevent the further spread of the virus.