Davao City hall
DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Health Office (CHO) reported a continuing downtrend in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases amid the increased number of surveillance tests and intensified contact tracing efforts of the city government.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, the focal person of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force and head of the CHO, said the CHO tests about 1,000 to 1,500 individuals who are experiencing influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and symptoms daily.
The number also includes persons belonging to the F2 group or persons who have been in direct contact with an F1 (Covid-19 positive person) and F3 group or individuals who have been in contact with an F2.
“In spite of so much testings nga atong gina buhat adlaw adlaw, gamay ra atoang positive yield (Despite so much testing that we conduct every day, we have very little positive yield),” Lopez in a live radio broadcast on Wednesday.
As of Tuesday, the CHO recorded 20 new cases, bringing the total active cases to 400 or 2.8 percent of the city’s total infections.
Lopez said on average, Davao City records about 35 to 40 new cases per day, a significant decrease from 100 or more cases daily during the Covid-19 surge.
This accounts for an average positivity rate of 3.8 percent, which is lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold of 5 percent.
The number of recoveries has also reached 13,200 since March 15 or about 92.4 percent since the start of the pandemic.
Lopez also said the number of deaths has significantly decreased.
“In the past two weeks, we have relatively lower deaths compared to the previous months. It’s because our hospital critical care utilization rate niubos na ta sa 50 percent (has decreased to 50 percent). That means we can accommodate already moderate, severe and critical cases,” he said. “Karon kay medyo gamay nalang ang occupancy rate sa SPMC, we can accommodate our Covid-19 cases.”
Lopez added, “Matagaan gyud sila og pagtagad ug malikayan ang mga mangamatay nga Covid-19 cases.” (PR)
