CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – After reporting four new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection in the city, Mayor Oscar Moreno announced Thursday he will consider placing the city under enhanced community quarantine but will wait for guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Moreno said that the decision to level up the quarantine status from general community quarantine in Cagayan de Oro is up to the IATF and “is not vested in the [local government unit]. It has never been vested in the LGU alone.”
The mayor said if IATF is not amenable to it, they will submit to the decision of the task force.
“IATF bases its decision on science-based criteria,” he said.
But once IATF orders the city to be placed under ECQ, Moreno said health providers will need to increase its surveillance capabilities to trace the spread of the virus in communities.
The latest patients who tested positive in the city is a 21-year-old male from Barangay Lumbia who was recovering from a spinal injury, who died May 6; the wife and daughter of PH 6783 who are residents of Sitio Pinikitan, Barangay Camaman-an; and a 61-year old vegetable vendor from Barangay Carmen.
The wife and daughter of PH 6783 are in stable condition, says Dr. Joselito Retuya, epidemiologist of the City Health office, and showed no signs and symptoms associated with Covid-19.
All family members and eight neighbors of PH 6783 were tested negative for coronavirus, he said.
The previous cases were PH 597, a 71-year-old male in an urban area, and a patient from Barangay Bulua who died in a hospital in Davao City.
Of the seven Covid-19 cases in Cagayan de Oro, one has recovered (PH 597) and two (PH 6783’s family members) are still on quarantine. (davaotoday.com)
