Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte warned of possible Covid surge in the city due to increased private holiday activities. This could happen despite high vaccination percentage of the population in the city.
Mayor Sara said that the conduct of the Misa De Gallo and the celebration of Christmas Day were generally peaceful and uneventful “except for the private gatherings that were happening diha sa mga households sa atong kaigsoonang Dabawenyos (except for the private gatherings in the households of our fellow Dabawenyos).”
“Expected nato sa COVID-19 Task Force, mahitabo napud na usab karon especially nakita sa mga tao nga mubo atong cases, daghan mga private gatherings nga mahitabo (We in the COVID-19 Task Force expect it – COVID surge will happen again especially that people saw the low number of cases and many private gatherings happened),” Mayor Sara said during the Special Hours program of 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Monday, December 27.
The city’s chief executive said. “Nangutana ko sa health group sa response cluster, kung duna ba gyud surge sunod tuig. And the answer was, yes, there will be a surge. Ang dili lang nato masulti kung unsa ka dako, or unsa ka deadly meaning unsa ka daghan ang mamatay with the incoming surge (I asked the health group of the response cluster if there will be a surge next year. And the answer was yes, there will be a surge. What we don’t know is how big or how deadly it would be, meaning how many will die with the incoming surge).”
Mayor Sara said that according to the health group, the reasons for a possible surge similar to what the city experienced in the past are the “First, Christmas gatherings, holiday gatherings, New Year gatherings will really fuel pagtakuday or transmission; and second, the new COVID-19 variant.”
“Mao na akong gipangutana sa atong Vaccine Cluster. I asked so kung what if 1.3 million first doses na ta duna ba gihapon tay surge? According sa health expert, atoang doktora, niingon sya, Yes, there will still be a surge because the vaccine will only make the symptoms mild.’ Posibleng ikaw severe, mahimo nalang kang mild or asymptomatic case meaning naa gihapon magtakdanay (That’s what I asked the Vaccine Cluster. I asked if we reach 1.3 million first doses, will there still be a surge? According to the health expert, our doctor, she said, Yes, there will still be surge because the vaccine will only make the symptoms mild.’ Possibly you are a severe case but you will only become a mild or asymptomatic case, meaning there will still be transmission),” she said.
As of December 26, 2021, Davao City has hit 94.3 percent or 1,225,944 target population protection for first dose while the fully immunized or those who have received their second dose are 1,111,102 or 85.48 percent of the target population protection.
Mayor Sara said, “Ang delikado lang is that daghan ang mild o asymptomatic unya naa silay mahagip or maagian na kaning mga unvaccinated o dunay comorbidity o high risk na mga unvaccinated or kaning mga vaccinated na duna nay sakit daan who are vulnerable as well to succumb to COVID-19 complications (What’s dangerous is when there will be a lot of mild and asymptomatic cases who will have contact with unvaccinated individuals or persons with comorbidity or high risk unvaccinated or those vaccinated who have underlying health conditions and are also vulnerable to succumb to COVID-19 complications).”
She added that Dabawenyos can greatly help lower the severity of a possible COVID-19 surge by not taking off their masks anywhere. She also suggested that the public wear masks even at home and that they only take it off when eating or drinking and return the masks immediately after since transmission is through saliva droplets.CIO
