MORE than half of the Covid-19 transmission is happening in workplaces, contributing to the current surge of cases in Davao City, the City Health Office (CHO) reported.
Citing the report presented by Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, CHO Acting Head Dr. Ashley Lopez said on Wednesday, June 9, they have noted huge clustering of cases in government offices and private establishments.
"Sobra tunga sa atong mga kaso (More than half of the cases) are outside transmission. So naa tay clustering nga nahitabo sa atong mga (we have clustering of cases in) workplaces," Lopez said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
He specifically mentioned some areas such as business process outsourcing (BPO), banks, factories, offices, and other business establishments.
"Murag na-overtakan na sa workplace atong (It looks like transmission in workplaces have overtaken cases in) household transmission. Although there's still a number of... we still have an ongoing local community transmission, but nakit-an namo sa atong data [nga] dako ang porsyento (but we saw that the data, based on the percentage), in fact, more than 50 percent of our cases are coming from outside transmission, particularly sa mga kumpanya (in companies)," Lopez said.
The official said they will be stricter in implementing lockdowns not only in houses and compounds, but also in establishments to curb the spread of Covid-19 in workplaces.
Lopez said they will intensify their monitoring and lockdown implementation after they have noted that some establishments have repeatedly recorded cases.
He added that they already warned these establishments several times, but the management still failed to implement mitigating measures.
Lopez said imposing lockdowns on private establishments is not meant to put inconvenience on both owners and employees, but to break the "cycle" of the transmission.
"Mangayo lang pud ko og pasaylo ug pagsabot sa mga negosyante ug mga business establishments bahin aning lockdown (I would like to apologize and ask for the understanding of our business owners and establishments with our strict lockdown). That is the basic protocol that we should follow. Di man gud pwede nga high risk inyong kumpanya, daghan mo kaso, tapos pabay-an lang nato nga sulod-gawas atong empleyado ug kliyente (We cannot just let these companies that are under high risk to continuously operate and allow their employees and clients to roam around)," the health official said.
Lopez said companies who will continue to disregard the health protocols and guidelines, and hide their Covid-19 situation can expect their establishments to be placed under lockdown.
"Wala na siya natuman og maayo and the result is isa mo sa contributory sa atong pag-surge ron sa Covid-19 (Since these protocols are not being followed, some of the companies are contributing to the surge of Covid-19 cases)," he said.
Davao City Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Marjorie Culas said in a virtual presser Monday morning, June 7, 2021, that a certain BPO company has 403 positive cases after some 1,000 employees were swabbed during a surveillance swabbing.
Culas said some BPOs are "uncooperative" in the City Government's Covid-19 contract tracing efforts, resulting in some being placed under lockdown due to the increasing number of cases.
As of Wednesday, June 9, Lopez said three "big" BPOs are currently under lockdown.
Lopez also noted granular lockdowns in government offices, police precincts, and some offices inside the Southern Philippines Medical Center.