THERE are still no signs of an impending surge in Davao City, said outgoing mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Monday, May 23, with Covid-19 cases continuing to remain low.
“So far, we don’t see an impending surge. Very low lang gihapon ang atong mga cases (our cases are very low). In the event na duna na ta’y (that we have a) surge, nangamdam pud ta sama sa pangandam nato kaniadto mao lang gihapon (we are prepared the same way we have before),” Duterte-Carpio said during the Special Hour program.
As of the latest, Davao City has 25 Covid-19 cases, eight of which are admitted at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), nine are at private hospitals, and the rest are at home isolation and TTMFs.
“Death nato is zero ta (We have no deaths recently),” Duterte-Carpio said.
The Covid-19 response team of the city is prepared to face the surge, said the mayor, by implementing established precautions such as vaccination, minimum public health standards, and the Prevention, Detection, Isolation Treatment, and Reintegration (PDITR) strategy.
But the mayor said temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF) of the city will only utilize government-owned properties and will not include private establishments, but home isolation is still allowed.
“Sa gibuhat nato from 2020 hangtod karon adlawa, wala gyod nakapugong sa pagtakod-takod sa Covid-19. Napahinay lang nato siya with the vaccination (From what we saw since 2020, we cannot completely stop the spread of Covid-19. We can only slow it down with the vaccination),” the mayor said.
In terms of vaccination summary, as of May 20, there are a total of 1,313,705 fully vaccinated individuals or 80.67 percent of the total population of Davao City.
Duterte-Carpio said this figure includes the 12 to 17 and five to 11 years old pediatric population as well.
At the same time, 258,589 are administered with the first booster and 7,506 for the second booster, which is still considerably low compared to the number of individuals fully vaccinated.
Duterte-Carpio said the low turnout for booster vaccination was due to various reasons such as being complacent.
“Others feel na enough na ang first and second dose nila, others say na they are too busy, they have no time for booster, others say na ‘sunod na lang (maybe next time).’ Kadagahanan (Majority) it’s because they feel complacent tungod dili na nila makita na daghan ang (because they do not see those who are) severe or critical cases. If at all nga naa’y cases, usually mild or asymptomatic,” the mayor said.
For the 12 to 17 years old population group, 133,504 are fully vaccinated and 142,430 are partially vaccinated. Also, 3,363 that belong to the A3 group or have comorbidities are fully vaccinated and 4,534 are partially vaccinated.
The population group of five to 11 years old has 14,223 fully vaccinated and 17,169 partially vaccinated. At the same time, 626 children with comorbidities are fully vaccinated and 898 have received their first dose.
The pediatric populations are not yet allowed for booster doses however for those who are qualified, Duterte-Carpio reminds the public to immediately avail of the said vaccination doses.
“Dili na ta mag dugay-dugay og kuha sa atong (We should not think twice of getting our) booster shots. Makita na nato karon by (we can see in the) data nga daghan sa mga (that many of the) severe and critical nga mamatay (that die) are unvaccinated. There is also a study nga duna na’y kinahanglan nga booster shot (that the booster shot is needed),” she said.