EIGHT of nine Covid-19 Delta variant-positive individuals from Sta. Maria, Davao Occidental had a history of attending or participating in sabong (cockfighting) activities, the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao revealed.
"There's a clustering of cases with, 'yung aming na-verify (based on our verified data, it) would be eight coming from sabong," Dr. Rachel Joy Pasion, DOH-Davao Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit head, said in a virtual presser on Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
DOH-Davao reported on Sunday, August 29, 2021, that 22 new Covid-19 Delta cases were detected in Davao Region.
The 22 additional cases in the region were among the 516 additional Delta cases in the country reported by the DOH on Sunday, August 29, 2021.
Based on the breakdown, Sta. Maria has the most detected Delta cases with nine, followed by Mati City in Davao Oriental and Davao City with four cases each, then Digos City in Davao del Sur with three, and Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) in Davao del Norte and Magsaysay in Davao del Sur with one each.
SunStar Davao reached out to Dr. Doreen Lolette Arciaga, incident commander for Covid-19 Response in Sta. Maria, Davao Occidental, for updates in the recent Delta cases in the municipality, but she has yet to respond.
Arciaga, in a previous interview, said the area was attributed to the surge of cases in the province and it was due to mass gatherings, including sabong and gambling activities.
The health official said most patients violated various health protocols based on their contact tracing history.
"There are unreported gatherings such as online sabong, talpakan... (cockfighting), and rampant din ang sugal na patago (discreet gambling activities are rampant)," she said during the DOH-Davao virtual presser on August 23.
While she did not provide the figure, Arciaga said a majority of their current active cases are participants of the online sabong.
Sta. Maria is currently under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until August 31, where mass gatherings are prohibited, total liquor ban and curfew, which starts from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., are implemented, and only essential transactions are allowed.
Arciaga said in a text message that they are intensifying their case management by means of aggressive contact tracing and swabbing, isolation of positive cases and completion of quarantine for negative close contacts.
"The protocol is for reisolation and reswab ang [Delta] cases and review of their timeline of events," she said.
She added the current cases are already isolated and are waiting to be swabbed again.
Arciaga has yet to respond regarding Pasion's statement.