THE CITY Health Office (CHO) called on Davaoeños to remain vigilant after hitting an 11% COVID-19 positivity rate on April 26, 2023.
However, CHO officer-in-charge Dr. Marjorie Culas said during the April 27 Davao City Disaster Radio program that the figure is still not a cause for worry as 70% of the active cases are asymptomatic.
“Ang 30 percent of the cases mga mild lang ang symptoms – gamay ubo, sip-on, sore throat mild nga kalintura pero shorter na ang incubation period. Dali na lang ang integration sa community (Thirty percent of the cases have mild symptoms – slight cough, cold, and sore throat mild but the incubation period is shorter. Community integration is easy),” Culas said.
She said that even if the city’s COVID-19 cases are rising, they consider it a slight increase.
The CHO chief said, “Dili man sad everyday nagataas. Naa ma’y nangamatay, naa silay laing comorbidity pero baba gihapon atong mortality rate (Although it is going up, it’s a slight increase. It’s not even increasing every day. Some may have died because of other comorbidities, our mortality rate remains low),” Culas said.
Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte ensured that Davaoeños are protected against COVID-19 despite the opening of economic activities in the city.
With the mayor’s support, the CHO still conducts free COVID-19 vaccination, Mondays to Fridays at People’s Park and Fridays in the city’s 18 district health centers. But she urged the public to get their booster shots and primary doses to protect against COVID-19.
Davao City has reached 103% COVID-19 immunization coverage from the target herd immunity or 70 percent of the total 1.8 million population. She attributed the city’s alert level 1 status to the high COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
Culas reminded people with comorbidities, the elderly, pregnant, with COVID-19 symptoms, and those taking public transportation to keep wearing their face masks as mandated by national and local laws.
Even if face mask wearing is voluntary indoors and outdoors, she said the observance of minimum public health standards (MPHS), such as social distancing and frequent hand washing with soap and water, can also help mitigate COVID-19 transmission.
“Sa atong kaugalingon, kaon og sakto, tulog og sakto. Make yourself healthy. Take vitamins and minerals. Dili lang nato protektahan atong sarili sa COVID-19 kay during summer daghan pud ang viruses (On our own, eat right, sleep right. Make yourself healthy. Take vitamins and minerals. We can’t just protect ourselves from COVID-19 because there are also a lot of viruses during summer),” she added.
