A young policeman who used to be a reporter of this newspaper posted on his facebook what many would have been reluctant to divulge for fear of discrimination.
He disclosed: “I have close contact with a positive case on July 16, 2020. He tested positive on July 18, 2020. So whoever had close contact with me from July 16 to 18, 2020 please isolate yourself for 14 days.I’m set for a swab test on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Rest assured will post here the result. Hope this will help. I don’t mind being discriminated against.”
This was not only a courageous thing to do but a responsible one, as well. His disclosure becomes easy for health workers to conduct contact tracing should he be tested positive. He could have alluded to Interior Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño’s “shame campaign” against COVID-19 patients refusing to undergo quarantine in government facilities when he said he doesn’t mind the discrimination, if he indeed tests positive. In this time of great uncertainty, we should protect ourselves by strictly adhering to protocols, not waste time shaming those who turn out to contract the virus, especially those who are frontliners.
Mayor Sara Duterte, in her radio program yesterday, confirmed there were eight who tested positive in a swab test conducted at the Davao City Police Office. A SWAT operative who was a member of the motorcycle quick response team assigned to patrol Barangay 23-C as part of the hard lockdown enforced on the community, tested positive last week. The response of the DCPO was to lockdown the SWAT-Explosive Ordnance Division (EOD) and City Mobile Force Company (CMFC) compound, to prevent transmission.
The pandemic is not yet over. Even if we have allowed, to some degree, the opening of commerce, we still have to adhere to health protocols to keep ourselves and our families safe. As we can all see, the curve has not flattened.
