Davao City – Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte ordered the free surveillance RT-PCR testing of all drivers of public transportation and delivery services starting Monday, April 26, to May 8 from Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Davao Crocodile Park.
The mayor signed Executive Order No. 22, Series of 2021, also known as “An Order Providing for Heightened Surveillance and Response of Covid-19 Cases in Public Ground Transport and Delivery Services in Davao City” on April 22, 2021.
She said, “Public ground transport and delivery services pose a significant risk to COVID-19 transmission.”
The risk of infection in a public utility vehicle, according to her E.O., is associated with sitting in proximity to an index case, the duration of time aboard or time spent in the vehicle, inadequate ventilation, consequential recirculation of contaminated air especially in air-conditioned public transport vehicles, the widespread use of potentially contaminated barriers such as plastics to achieve social distancing, and contaminated surfaces like handrails, doorknobs, seats, etc., and the countless number of possible infected passengers getting in and out of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, she said that the risk of infection in delivery or courier services is associated with touching objects or surfaces contaminated by persons unaware that they are infected.
“Drivers of public ground transport and delivery or courier services are deemed high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and identified as potential sources of transmission by the City Health Office (CHO), Infectious Disease Specialists, and the Davao City COVID-19 Task Force,” Duterte said.
She added, “There is a need to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection in public ground transport and delivery services in Davao City.”
Section 1 provides the guidelines of the free COVID-19 swab testing for all drivers of transportation and delivery services such as taxicab drivers, van drivers, airconditioned and non-airconditioned jeepney drivers, habal-habal or motorcycle drivers, tricycle drivers, bus drivers, other drivers of public ground transport vehicles, and motorcycle drivers of food and online item delivery services like Grab, FoodPanda, Shopee, Lazada, etc.
They, however, need not undergo quarantine while waiting for their test results. They must bring a ball pen and driver’s license or any government-issued ID to the testing location.
Check E.O. 22 with this link: https://www.davaocity.gov.ph/transparency/executive-orders/2021-2/…. (Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao OIC)