South Cotabato town bars stopovers by bikers as rider contracted SARS-Cov2 Delta variant

KORONADAL CITY—The Surallah town government in South Cotabato has banned bicycle group riders from stopping over after one of them tested positive for the more virulent Delta variant of SARS-Cov2.

The 73-year-old biker is one of the four Delta patients in South Cotabato who have no travel history, leading local authorities to suspect the infections were due to local transmission.

Surallah Mayor Antonio Bendita had ordered a focused lockdown from Aug. 24 to 31 in the subdivision where the biker lives, along with at least 100 other families.

Apart from her, five other subdivision residents contracted COVID-19.

To prevent the Delta variant from spreading in their town, the police and village watchmen sealed access points in the subdivision. Only those with negative results from a swab test are allowed to go in or out of the place.

“We suspect she (the biker) contracted the virus through group rides,” Bendita said.

“They would bike long distances to other towns. Sometimes, they are in a group of 100 or 200 riders. They would stop in our town for coffee or water break, mingling with each other without wearing face masks,” Bendita told the local media, describing the group of bikers as “super spreaders.”

Bendita instructed the local police to escort bicycle group riders from other places as they enter the town, making sure they don’t make a stopover but just pass through.

Delta cases

Dr. Rogelio Aturdido, Jr., South Cotabato health officer, said that apart from Surallah, Koronadal City and the towns of Banga and Tupi have one Delta case each.

However, the one from Tupi, a 4-year-old boy, may have contracted the Delta variant in Davao City, where he died after confinement at a hospital there, Aturdido said. He noted that the patient was brought to Davao City with a negative COVID-19 test result.

“The three other Delta variant cases need a re-swabbing for us to make a conclusive declaration that they are fully recovered,” Aturdido said. He added that they have no history of travel outside the province.

Tracing for the Delta variant cases involved up to the third generation contacts, the official said.

Aturdido said Surallah had two Beta variant cases and one Alpha case each in Banga and Tupi towns and Koronadal City.

However, the patients with the Beta and Alpha variants have fully recovered.

“We should not be complacent in the fight against COVID-19,” he stressed, noting the need to continue observing minimum health safety protocols to avoid contracting the virus.

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