DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio revealed that a 61-year-old female pastor, who previously discouraged people from getting vaccinated, is currently admitted and is suffering a severe case of Covid-19.
"This is not the first time that a faith-based anti-vaxxer is infected with Covid[-19] or even died because of Covid[-19]. Atong gina-remind kaning mga faith-based ang opposition sa bakuna nga ang science dili makita sa bibliya. The bible talks about our relationship with God. Ang kalaban nato kining virus wala sa bibliya mao nga ang gamiton nato ang science (We are reminding those faith-based opposition that science cannot be found in the bible. Our enemy here is a virus which is not in the bible. Instead, we should base it from science)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday, Septemeber 13.
The official understood that with Davao City having 1.8 million population, there are still people who do not believe that Covid-19 is real because they have not experienced getting infected or actually witness a loved one suffer or die due to this virus.
“But we want them to know that Covid[-19] is real. In fact, we have assisted the cremation of 2,074 cadavers since the start of this pandemic and there was a day that we had 20 cadavers. Puno ang atong mga hospitals ug ang pinaka common sa mga pasyente nga infected kay dili sila makaginhawa. Wala ni sila ga-drama kay duna tay aparato nga nagapakita nga baba ang oxygen nila (Our hospitals are all full and what’s common amongst infected patients is the difficulty in breathing. They are not acting because apparatus would show that their oxygen level is really low),” Duterte added.
The official also encouraged those who have yet to decide in getting vaccinated to learn from the numbers showing that most who have been infected with Covid-19 are those who are unvaccinated.
“Makita nato nga dunay dako ang diperensya kung unvaccinated or vaccinated ka (There is a difference when you are vaccinated or not). Makita nato sa cases 91.13 percent sa 3,304 (We can see that 91.13 percent of the 3,304) new Covid-19 positive cases from September 5-11, 2021 are unvaccinated individuals. This should guide us nga mad-decide nga magpabakuna na (to get vaccinated),” the official said.
The Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) in their virtual presser today still attributed the increase of Covid-19 cases due to household transmission, and clustering of cases in work environment and the latest is the transmission due to a religious gathering.
DOH-Davao official Dr. Raquel Montejo highlighted that given household transmission is the common cause of the spread of the virus, people should all the more strictly wear face mask even within their household.
“Especially if a member of the family is symptomatic or has symptoms, all the other members should wear face mask, have that family member isolated, and get tested on Covid-19. We should also continue practicing social distancing even within the household,” Dr. Montejo said.
For increasing cases transmitted through work environments like hospitals, government offices, and private establishments, the DOH-Davao bared that it has met again with other government agencies under the response cluster such as the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labor and Employment to check on the compliance of government offices and private establishments to the set minimum public health standards. (PIA-Davao)