BANKEROHAN Public Market will still be open to the public even after a vendor there reportedly contracted the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Wednesday, April 29.
The mayor said in a radio interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio that the vendor is currently in an isolation center, with her residence on lockdown.
While the market would still be open, she emphasized that strict social distancing and wearing face masks will still be imposed.
Duterte-Carpio made the clarification after netizens expressed worries that the Bankerohan Public Market might be closed. There are also those who are worried as they might have already been exposed to the vendor. The market is the biggest public market in the city.
The mayor, meanwhile, contradicted the statement of a government official, which she did not name, after the official was quoted saying that “it’s really safe in Bankerohan (Market)”.
“Gusto lang nako i-dispute there is no safe area outside. Even inside sa inyohang balay, there is no safe area kung duna nay positive dinha sa inyoha. It is incorrect to say nga safe ang Bankerohan (I would like to dispute this person’s statement because there is no safe area right now. Even inside your house, it is no longer safe when there is one positive within your household. So, it is incorrect to claim that Bankerohan Market is a safe area),” Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview.
The mayor also said they have been instructing the barangays covering the market and its surroundings to conduct daily disinfection in the afternoon.
Duterte-Carpio has been warning the public to refrain from frequently visiting areas like wet markets and groceries as these are highly vulnerable areas for transmission.
“Dugay nako sige balik-balik ug sulti sa tanan nga please avoid in going to palengke, supermarkets if you can because naa diri ang tao, therefore naa diri ang potential sa infection, apil na pod dinha ang hospitals, ug mga punerarya (I have been reminding everyone to avoid going to the markets or supermarkets as much as possible because of the risk),” she said in a radio interview.
The city government is currently intensifying its case finding efforts in the communities to trace individuals who may have the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, in a phone interview, Bankerohan Barangay Captain Edgar Ibuyan Sr. told Sunstar Davao that the vendor is not a vendor within the Bankerohan Market, but a vendor at Pag-Asa Marfori Annex Wet market, which is a privately-owned market.
Ibuyan said that the Covid-19 positive patient is a 59-year old female vendor, who is confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
“Bag-o ra sila na-swab kauban iyahang pamilya ganihang buntag (The patient and her family already swabbed for testing),” Ibuyan said on Wednesday afternoon.
However, he has no personal information on whether the patient is asymptomatic or has manifested Covid-19 symptoms.