Public urged to wear mask at home

Public urged to wear mask at home (AP photo)
Public urged to wear mask at home (AP photo)

WITH the rising number of Covid-19 transmission within households, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio encouraged the wearing of face masks at home.

Citing the Covid-19 data from the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force, the mayor said majority of the cases are household transmissions.

"Base ni sa mga makita natong data dinha sa 'tong Covid-19 TF [Task Force], paspas [ang] transmission or pagtakud-takod sulod sa balay, so ang pinakapwede na ma-advice sa inyoha (This is based on the data from the Covid-19 TF. There is a widespread transmission or infection within households. Our advice) is you start wearing your mask inside your houses," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

She said there are cases that the entire members of the household get infected.

"The only way to reduce the risk nga magtakdanay mo sa sulod sa balay kung naa ma'y simbako nga mag-positive sa inyo is before it happens, mag-practice namo og suot sa inyohang mask sa sulod sa balay (of transmission within household, in case someone tests positive, is you practice wearing of face masks inside your houses)," the mayor said.

According to the Davao City Security Cluster as of September 13, 2021, 676 houses are currently under lockdown.

Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said household transmissions, particularly due to social gatherings, have contributed to the rise in Covid-19 cases in the city.

She said among the social gatherings being conducted at home are birthday parties.

The Department of Health (DOH), in previous pressers, advised those living with symptomatic or with vulnerable people to wear face masks at home as Covid-19 may spread easily among households.

The DOH has been reminding the public consistently on the importance of wearing a mask as part of the prescribed minimum health standards to ensure utmost protection from Covid-19. This was also stressed by the agency amid reports of Sars-CoV-2, which is the causative agent of Covid-19, being airborne.

Dr. Raquel Montejo, DOH-Davao Local Health Support Division chief, said household and community transmissions had been the common cases since the start of the pandemic.

"So even before, gina-awhag gyud nato, if sa tan-aw nato naay symptomatic within the household, mao na atong gina-ingon pirmi na dapat active atong surveillance. Dapat any members sa family, kung naay symptomatic, i-isolate dayon, then wear mask (we are encouraging them if they think they have a household member who is symptomatic, there should be an active surveillance. Anyone from the family who is symptomatic should be isolated and wear mask)," Montejo said.

However, if a certain household cannot isolate a certain family member due to limited space, she said the entire household should wear masks.

Montejo added symptomatic members must be reported immediately to the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams for quarantine and testing. (RGL)

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