The Province of Davao Oriental has registered today one new positive case for COVID-19, bringing the total number of the currently active cases in the province to 12.
The new positive case is a 19-year-old female who is a resident of the municipality of Baganga. Based on the report from the Provincial Epidemiologic Surveillance Unit, the said individual arrived in Baganga via a public utility van on June 2, 2020, from Davao City, particularly in Barangay 22-C Piapi Boulevard which is tagged as a COVID-hotspot or a high-risk area for local transmission of COVID-19.
Upon knowing the said information, authorities immediately placed the individual under quarantine upon her arrival. And as per the protocol of the Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 that all persons coming from these COVID hotspots must undergo a mandatory swab test, she was immediately tested by a team from the Municipal Health Office.
While the said individual is currently asymptomatic and under isolation at the Municipal Quarantine Center, the Municipal Health Office has immediately conducted contact-tracing of which a total of 40 individuals who were exposed have been traced. All of the direct contacts are now isolated and are set to undergo an RT-PCR swab test.
Dr. Reden Bersaldo, Action Officer of the PTF on COVID-19, said that the submission of embarkation forms and the extensive surveillance have immensely contributed to the efficient detection of positive cases as well as the tracing of their contacts.
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Meanwhile, the province has also recorded 3 recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 6. These new recoveries are the three Overseas Filipino Workers from the municipality of San Isidro. They were declared as recovered following their two negative RT-PCR swab test. As per protocol of the Department of Health, yielding two negative RT-PCR is required for a COVID-positive patient to be classified as a βrecoveryβ from the coronavirus disease.
The other nine active cases in the municipality of Banaybanay and one in the City of Mati have already yielded negative results in their RT-PCR swab test. They are currently waiting for the second negative test result in order for them to be included among the recoveries. Their test results are expected to arrive within the week.
On the other hand, the active positive case from the municipality of Caraga has again tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently asymptomatic and isolated at the Quarantine Center of Caraga where he will continue to be quarantined until he is declared cleared from the virus.
Meanwhile, the direct contacts of the registered positive cases from San Isidro, Banaybanay and Caraga towns have all yielded negative results in their RT-PCR swab test.
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As for the 177 healthworkers and staff at the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center, the patients who were exposed, as well as the second line of contacts of the doctor who tested positive for COVID-19 and has now recovered, all of them have yielded negative results in their RT-PCR swab test. While already cleared from the coronavirus disease, they are still required to complete their 14-day quarantine.
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Despite the fact that the province has already recorded a total number of 18 positive cases for COVID-19 since the month of April, Davao Oriental remains to have NO LOCAL TRANSMISSION for the virus. Dr. Reden Bersaldo attributes this to the heightened surveillance and the extensive risk-testing, particularly on high-risk groups such as OFWs, Locally Stranded Individuals, and returning residents, among others even if they are asymptomatic.
As of today, almost 1,000 individuals have already been tested of which only 2-3 percent comprise the positive cases.
Recognizing the effectivity of the risk testing, the Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 assures that the testing using the RT-PCR swab test will continue even beyond the Modified General Community Quarantine period.
In the next few days, the PTF on COVID-19 is set to test high-risk individuals confined in enclosed spaces such as penal institutions, reformation centers, and orphanages in the province. (PIO)
