FILE PHOTO: Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. Photo from City Government of Davao Facebook
DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Duterte-Caprio said she would not ask the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to place the city under stricter quarantine despite the first reported cases of Delta variant here and in neighboring Tagum City of Davao del Norte.
The mayor said the city would continue to implement its aggressive testing, contact tracing, and surveillance to stop the spread of the disease even as she asked the public to continue to observe basic health protocols and get themselves vaccinated.
“It’s the same (SARS-CoV2) virus, so we need to test, trace, isolate or treat if there is a need for hospitalization,” she said.
She added that observing the standard health protocols, avoiding mass gatherings, staying at home, and going out only for essentials, on top of getting vaccinated, remained to be the most that a person could do to keep himself safe from COVID-19 and its emerging variants.
The city would also continue to require visitors from outside the Davao region to submit a negative Real Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test that was taken 72 hours before entering the city.
“What is important is we do the same action plan,” Duterte said. “We still need to do all the types of testing; such as testing those who are experiencing influenza-like illnesses, surveillance testing for those who have been exposed to a COVID-19 case, and active case finding,” she said.
This came after health authorities confirmed that the first two cases of Delta variant recorded here and in nearby Tagum City last week had since recovered.
Davao City’s first recorded Delta variant case involved a 28-year-old woman who, according to the City Health Office, already received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The woman recovered after completing the required 14-day isolation period.
In Tagum City, Dr. Arnel Florendo, the City Health Officer, said their first Delta case also recovered and that the city was not too keen on elevating their quarantine status to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).
“The standard health protocols against the other variants are also as effective in preventing the spread of Delta,” he said. “As long as we are able to contain the situation, there’s no need to panic,” he said.
Duterte said that the first reported case of Delta variant in the city would not push the city government to request for a stricter community quarantine.“The status will come from the national IATF,” she said.
“They have parameters as to what community quarantine status needs to be imposed in a particular local government unit, depending on the data they get from the city or from the (Department of Health).”
Duterte urged the public not to panic. Instead, she said they should continue to observe the basic health protocols, such as wearing faces masks and shields, observe physical distancing, and frequently wash their hands with soap and water.