The Davao City Task Force COVID-19 said it was elated that the city hit its lowest COVID-19 positivity rate since March 2020, currently at 0.5 percent.

Davao City Task Force COVID-19 Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, during the COVID-19 Alert program of 87.5 Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on December 15, said, “Medyo happy kaayo ta karon, Nagapadayon nga mubo ang atong mga cases. Nagpadayon mubo atong positivity rate unya wala pa tay any case of new variant (We are happy since our COVID-19 cases have remained low. Our positivity rate is also low and we don’t have any case of new variant).”

Dr. Schlosser attributed the low positivity rate to the cooperation and discipline of Dabawenyos.

She also reiterated that the public’s number one protection against COVID-19 is adherence to the minimum public health standards (MPHS), such as wearing of face mask, social distancing, proper hand hygiene, and vaccination.

“If we can avoid mga unnecessary gatherings mas labing maayo (If we can avoid unnecessary gatherings, the better),” she said.

The 0.5 percent positivity rate is the lowest recorded so far since the pandemic struck. “Wala ta kaabot maski one percent man lang gani no and then atoang active cases is 99. Two of which are actually new so gamay lang kaayo na, isa sa pinakagamay nato nga positive cases (We have not even reached one percent and our active cases is 99. Two of which are new, so that’s low, one of the lowest positive cases we have recorded,” the city health official said.

The number of active cases, according to her, covers the past 14 days since the incubation or infectious period is 14 days.

“Kaluoy sa Ginoo, these are actually mild cases lang no so far wala naman tay death as of the last few weeks and then ang atoang mga cases very mild lang sya. A lot of which are asymptomatic and

padulong na ilahang recovery (Thank God, these are actually mild cases and we have no death in the past few weeks and our cases are mild. A lot of them are mild and are on their way to recovery),” Dr. Schlosser added.

As of December 15, the Department of Health (DOH) Davao COVID-19 Regional Daily Case Bulletin reported that Davao City’s active cases dropped to 80 even with five new cases. Of the 53,865 total COVID-19 cases since March 2020, 51,997 have recovered and 1,788 succumbed to the disease in the city.

She also said that despite the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases, Dabawenyos should not be complacent as the Simbang Gabi has started and the Christmas holidays are fast approaching.

Dr. Schlosser said, “Please let it be a reminder to everyone, although gamay atong cases karon naa gihapon ang COVID-19 cases (although we may currently have low cases, we still have COVID-19 cases)”.

She urged Dabawenyos to be mindful and observe the MPHS while getting themselves vaccinated. CIO