Sara Duterte: No home quarantine for COVID-19 patients in Davao City

DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Duterte clarified that there is no policy in Davao City allowing the home quarantine for COVID-19 patients.

Duterte, on Friday, reacted to the statement made by National Task Force Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez based on the wrong impression that home quarantine is being allowed in the city.

Galvez, who is also the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, was in Davao City last Wednesday to discuss with the local COVID-19 Task Force the situation and possible interventions.

“If we allow home quarantine, community transmission will follow. If we have community transmission we will have difficulties in stopping COVID,” Galvez said.

The mayor, who was also present at the meeting, admitted that she made a mistake by not immediately correcting Galvez assuming that Department of Health local officials would do it.

“I was expecting DOH would correct that narrative so I kept silent,” Duterte said.

The local government explained that this narrative would create a wrong impression that COVID-19 patients are not being isolated in facilities by health workers.

“Positive patients are being transported to different facilities while their houses are put under lockdown,” Duterte said.

Housemates are monitored and will be tested especially if they will develop symptoms, the mayor added.

Duterte, however, expressed that there were instances that patients were not immediately transferred to isolation facilities due to limitations and coordination problems.

“Home quarantine had never been a policy of Davao City and the entire city knows about that,” Duterte stressed.

She added that residents were actually complaining that health workers would come to their homes and pick them up for isolation in designated facilities.

Davao City reverted to GCQ effective Friday, Nov. 20, until November 30.

The IATF decision to revert Davao City to GCQ from MGCQ was based on the recommendation of Galvez after his consultation with the local task force.

From September 30 to November 19, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Davao City ballooned from 1,953 to 5,520 individuals, or an increase of 183%.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate also soared by 214% from 78 deaths on September 30 to 245 deaths on Thursday, Nov. 19