DOH rejects ‘epicenter’ tag for virus hotspots like Davao City

DOH Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire, FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Davao City is not an epicenter of COVID-19 cases, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday, as it rejected the use of the term for areas seeing a rise in coronavirus infections.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the term epicenter, in relation to epidemics, is interpreted by some to refer to an area as the source of the infection, and is also meant to connote the area as a hotspot for the infection.

“We discourage the use of the term ‘epicenter’ in describing the rise of cases in an area. These areas are not the origin of the COVID-19 virus. Moreover, using the term ‘epicenter’ detracts from other surrounding areas which may be equally or more affected by COVID-19,” Vergeire said in a statement.

“Considering this, no, Davao City is not an epicenter. We continue to closely monitor the situation in Davao City due to increasing cases,” she added.

The DOH issued the statement after OCTA Research reported that Davao City has surpassed Quezon City on the average number of new COVID-19 cases in a seven-day monitoring period.

Based on OCTA’s report, Davao City recorded 213 average new cases from June 1 to 7, or 44 percent from the 147 average new cases from the preceding week.

Meanwhile, Quezon City recorded an average of 207 new COVID-19 cases from June 1 to 7, or a -27 percent growth rate from the 283 cases from the previous week.

Davao City was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine from June 5 until June 20.

The local government unit earlier appealed to the national government to declare the city under a stricter quarantine status so it could deal with the surge of COVID-19 cases.

EDV