Soccsksargen, Caraga see spike in virus cases

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Philippines — New cases of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Soccsksargen and the Caraga regions have doubled as more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and residents stranded in other places finally returned home in the last three weeks.

Soccsksargen is composed of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces and the cities of Cotabato and General Santos.

The number of cases in Soccsksargen, had doubled to 48 as of Saturday, according to the Department of Health (DOH) regional office.

South Cotabato posted the highest number of cases at 16, followed by Cotabato City with 15; Sultan Kudarat, six; Cotabato province, five; and General Santos and Sarangani, three each.

The number sharply rose after local government units in the region allowed locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) to go home, subject to quarantine protocols.

On June 1, the DOH recorded only 24 cases in the region, with Cotabato City registering the highest number at 10 cases, followed by Cotabato province, five; South Cotabato, four; Sultan Kudarat, three; and General Santos and Sarangani, one each.

So far, 24 COVID-19 patients across the region had recovered, as confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.

Cotabato City voted for inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao last year, but it has yet to be formally turned over to the Bangsamoro region due to pending petitions with the Supreme Court and a request at the Office of the President to remain with Region 12. Since COVID-19 pandemic reared its ugly head this year, monitoring in Cotabato City has been undertaken by the DOH regional office.

Expected

South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said he expected the number of COVID-19 cases to increase with the return of LSIs and ROFs in the province

“We should not let our guards down as there is still no vaccine or medicine for COVID-19,” he said at a press briefing.

Data from the South Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) showed that as of June 13, at least 177 ROFs and 1,455 LSIs had returned through the “Balik South Cotabato” program.

Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., IPHO chief, said getting the RT-PCR test results were now faster with the recent accreditation by the DOH of the Dr. Arturo P. Pingoy Medical Center, a private hospital in Koronadal City, as a COVID-19 testing laboratory.

Previously, swab samples were sent to Southern Philippines Medical Center laboratory in Davao City.

Local transmission

In Caraga region, COVID-19 cases surged to 56 on Friday, as the DOH reported 25 new infections, almost doubling the 31 cases reported in the region on June 17.

At least 16 of the new cases are in Butuan City.

Of the new cases, four were returning overseas workers, 14 were individuals stranded in various parts of the country, five were locals who had no recent travel and whose exposure could not be traced; a health worker and a transient from Zamboanga del Sur province, the DOH reported.

According to Dr. Jose R. Llacuna Jr., DOH Caraga regional director, only one patient showed mild symptoms as the rest of the COVID-19 patients remained asymptomatic.

Llacuna confirmed that five of the new infections could now be considered as cases of local transmission.

He said three cases in Butuan City had no history of travel to areas with known community-wide transmission, while two other cases in the region had recent travel to Butuan City, which could have been their source of exposure.

Given the circumstances, the DOH declared local transmission to be already occurring in the city.

Also on Friday, 10 patients who underwent repeat COVID-19 tests still tested positive, which means they still have to recover from the infection and that doing so, would require additional quarantine until subsequent tests would yield negative results.

“[Under] the current situation, we have to implement more stringent isolation and quarantine measures,” Llacuna said. “All confirmed cases must stay in the quarantine facilities or admitted at the hospitals if they have signs and symptoms. All close contacts will also be quarantined at home for 14 days and closely monitored.”

The rise in virus cases in Butuan prompted the local government to test 5,885 individuals, including returnees, front-liners and contacts of COVID-19 cases. INQ