Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said four vendors at the Agdao public market will be sent for swabbing at the Southern Philippines Medical Center after they failed an initial health screening conducted by the City Health Office (CHO).
The health screening was part of the city government’s contact tracing, which was launched after several people in Agdao tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
On May 21, the Department of Health recorded 13 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the city and all of them are from Agdao – 12 from Barangay Leon Garcia Sr. and one from Agdao Proper.
Mayor Inday said over the city-operated Davao City Disaster Radio that the CHO tested a total of 464 vendors from the Agdao public market and four of them failed the screening.
The health screening is not only limited to the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) but also includes determining whether the person has cough, fever, or any respiratory disease symptoms.
“Ang atoang health screening, dili lang siya RDT, naga-check pud siya kung duna kay sip-on, ubo, ug dunay mga [travel or contact history] questions nga gina tubag. It’s called a health screening, either you pass or fail. If fail, you go to the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing sa SPMC,” the mayor added.
Mayor Inday said the development could prolong the closure of the Agdao public market, depending on the suggestion of the doctors she has been consulting with. The market was earlier closed for seven days for disinfection.
She said with the closure of the market, all vendors there will receive assistance from the city government.
“Ang atong vendors aduna silay ayuda nga grocery package gikan sa City Social Welfare Development Office,” she said. CIO