Davao City – The City Government of Davao has recorded a low number of COVID-19 fatalities for the past two weeks while positive cases continue to drop, a local health chief said.
Davao City Health Office (CHO) Acting Head Dr. Ashley Lopez on Wednesday, April 21, during the ‘COVID-19 Alert’ program on Davao City Disaster Radio, said that the city’s lower death rate is an indication of its efficient COVID-19 response and the efficient utilization of its care and treatment facilities.
“In the past two weeks we have relatively, or comparatively low deaths compared to the previous months and it’s because ang atong hospital utilization care particularly ang critical utilization rate niubos na ta sa less than 50 percent” Lopez said.
He added that underlying health conditions or comorbidities often cause the death of COVID-19 patients.
“Karon medyo gamay-gamay na lang ang occupancy rate sa SPMC. We can accommodate much more COVID-19 cases. Kung ma-ospital na sila, matagaan gyud na sila’g pagtagad, malikayan gyud nato ang pagkamatay sa atong COVID-19 patients,” Lopez explained.
Meanwhile, Lopez said that the city’s COVID-19 positivity rate stands at 3.8% for the past 14 days with community transmission going down.
“Our average for the past 14 days, our positivity rate for Davao is at 3.8 percent. We are lower than the WHO threshold of 5 percent, which only indicates that we have a relatively low transmission for COVID-19 here in Davao City,” Lopez said.
However, he said that with the heightened surveillance and operations for COVID-19 in Davao City, it is expected that more positive cases will be detected.
“Tungod anang sa intensified activities nato sa contact tracing sa atong surveillance, tapos naa tay gi-implement nga mandatory testing, not only sa atong direct contacts but sa atong pung secondary and tertiary contacts – F2 or F3, that’s why it is not surprising nga mosaka gyud ang atong positivity rate, although, dili kaayo siya significant”. Lopez said.
Lopez has attributed the continued downtrend in COVID-19 cases to the city’s stringent coronavirus regulations, including intensified active-case finding and surveillance activities in communities.
(City Information Office | Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao OIC)