Acting Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte has ordered the mandatory swabbing of persons in close contact with confirmed Covid-19 positive cases in the city effective immediately.
The mandatory swabbing will last until December 31, 2021.
Through Executive Order No. 2 signed on April 6, 2021, the acting mayor states that there is a need to expand the testing of contacts beyond the F1 category as an attempt to control the transmission of the virus.
Section 1 of the EO mandates all F1, F2 and F3 contacts of an RT- PCR confirmed positive case to undergo swab testing and the date of swabbing shall be determined by the contact tracing team or the District Health Office.
Those who fail to follow the provisions of the said EO will be pursued and penalized.
In a statement shared by the City Information Office (CIO), the acting mayor sees the need to recalibrate strategies to prevent and control Covid-19 transmission in Davao City amid the surge of cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other areas of the country, and also the emergence of new Covid-19 variants.
The vice mayor is designated as acting mayor from April 6 to 10 as Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio filed a leave for health reasons.
Meanwhile, a surveillance testing at targeted areas in the city is ongoing.
“Sa pagkakaron, we will test as much as we can. Mao na siya ang atoang direction. The challenge karon is paunsa nato ma convince ang mga tao nga magpatesting bisan wala pa man sila gibati nga symptoms. Since kaniadto, bisan karon, duna gihapoy resistance ang mga tao nga mag patesting,” Mayor Sara said.
She also said that increase testing and faster contact tracing remain a priority to control the spread of Covid-19 in Davao City amid surging of cases particularly at NCR.
The city has stepped up its surveillance testing in areas that are monitored and reported with high exposure and cases of Covid-19.
According to the mayor, this is one of the measures to prevent the clustering of cases and the potential mega surge of Covid-19 cases in the city.
“We try na unahan ang clustering of cases. Makita nato didto sa contact tracing kung asa nagtrabaho or unsa’y exposure sa isa ka-tao, didto ta naga-target og surveillance swabbing and testing. Example, ang palengkes are known to be areas diin asa daghan usually ang naay exposure,” she said.
The city has conducted swab testing to the vendors of Agdao Public Market and Bankerohan Public Market.
