TO SAY that the year 2020 was an eventful year would be an understatement.
The year started with the eruption of Taal Volcano in Luzon in January. Then, there was the African Swine Fever (ASF) that infected several hogs in Davao Region and resulted in the culling of many hogs. Not to mention natural calamities like typhoons and earthquakes.
What really took everyone on a rollercoaster ride in 2020 was the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The virus, which was first reported as a “mysterious” one in Wuhan, China in December 2019 had since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.
As of writing, it already took away more than 1.8 million lives worldwide, including more than 9,000 Filipinos.
Not only had it threatened the health of many of the general population, but it also led to an economic crisis and a lifestyle change. No one was ever prepared for this to happen.
Covid-19
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Covid-19 is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (Sars-CoV-2)
WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 when cases were already recorded in several countries outside China. In March 2020, the virus became a pandemic.
A person gets infected through close contact with another person, through small droplets and aerosols containing the virus, which can enter the person’s nose and mouth as they breathe, cough, sneeze, sing or speak.
Based on initial studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste.
Since vaccines and medicine are still in the course of research, test, and examination, health experts laid down preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus. These include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face.
Pandemic in PH
The first case recorded in the country was confirmed on January 30. The patient was a 38-year-old Chinese woman. This was the same day the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) began conducting confirmatory tests for the disease.
On February 2, the first death from the disease in the Philippines was confirmed. This mortality was the first confirmed death outside China.
Meanwhile, the first confirmed case of a Filipino citizen outside the Philippines was announced. The case is a crew member of the cruise ship, Diamond Princess, which was quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan.
On March 6, the first and second cases of Filipinos inside the country were confirmed. President Rodrigo Duterte, on March 9, formally declared a state of public health emergency in the Philippines. Metro Manila was eventually placed under a strict community quarantine. Border restrictions were also implemented in the National Capital Region.
Covid-19 reaches Davao
It wasn’t long until the pandemic had reached Davao Region.
Davao Region’s first case was confirmed by the Department of Health-Davao (DOH-Davao) on March 15, 2020. The patient was identified as a 21-year-old female resident of Pantukan, Davao de Oro, who had a travel history to the United Kingdom (UK) and Manila. The patient arrived in Davao City on February 29 and was placed in isolation at a health facility on March 9. The following day, the patient was referred to a Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum.
A day before the announcement of the first confirmed case, the cities of Tagum and Davao City were placed under partial lockdown. The first eight Covid-19 cases in the region involved individuals who had traveled history to Metro Manila.
Several local government units (LGUs) in the region had followed suit and implemented their respective lockdowns. However, guidelines were not standardized, causing confusion and inconveniences for residents who wish to travel in and out of their town or city.
This led to the creation of the Davao Region Covid-19 Task Force. The task force then issued a resolution for the closure of the region’s borders, effective March 19 and, at the same time, provided guidelines on travel within the region. Air travel was also suspended during this time to prevent the spread of the virus in the region.
Government-owned hospitals DRMC and Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) were identified as the Covid-19 referral hospital in the region.
A cockderby conducted at the New Davao Matina Gallera, Davao City in March also led to the spread of the coronavirus to other areas in Mindanao.
From April 6, cases linked to the Matina cockfighting derby had been confirmed in Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao de Oro, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, General Santos and Bukidnon.
On March 30, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio confirmed that based on data issued by DOH-Davao, there was a local transmission in the city after patients who had no travel history outside the city acquired the virus.
This resulted in the city being placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the strictest form of community quarantine under the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Other provinces in the region were also placed under ECQ.
Due to being placed under ECQ, all mass gatherings, offices, establishments, and non-essential activities were halted or suspended to further curb the spread of the virus. The LGUs also began expanding critical care facilities, testing capacities, and other Covid-19 response actions.
In Davao City, the city government of Davao implemented a 24-hour liquor ban, food and medicine (FM) pass, and a curfew to limit the movement of people. Other LGUs in the region also imposed a curfew and quarantine passes.
Under ECQ, public transportation became limited. This led to biking becoming a popular alternative to getting around the city.
On March 31, SPMC was certified by RITM to independently conduct Covid-19 confirmatory tests.
In late April this year, the national government, through IATF-EID, standardized the identification of the community quarantine status of LGUs in the country.
All LGUs in the region shifted to general community quarantine (GCQ) on May 16. Under this quarantine status, more offices and establishments were now allowed to operate but still with regulations.
In early June, mass transportation such as jeepneys and buses gradually normalized as people returned to work. Also, the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, also known as Davao International Airport, was opened for domestic flights.
All LGUs in the region shifted to modified GCQ (MGCQ) in early July this year.
In Davao City, the 24-hour liquor ban, curfew, and FM pass were lifted. Duterte-Carpio urged the people to “self-regulate.”
However, the impact of the easing of restrictions would be felt in mid-October this year. Cases in Davao City spiked and resulted in the exhaustion of SPMC beds for Covid-19 patients and the city’s temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF).
On October 23, Davao City topped DOH’s list of areas in the country with the highest number of new coronavirus infections in a single day. The city would then see itself on the list several more times in the last quarter of 2020.
Eventually, the curfew, FM pass, and 24-hour liquor ban were reimposed.
However, despite the reimposed restrictions, cases in the city continued to surge. The national government, through the National Task Force (NTF), intervened and recommended for the city to shift back to GCQ.
A One Hospital Command Center will be established in the city to ensure an efficient referral system. The 19 private hospitals in the city were then mandated to increase their ward bed occupancy to 30 percent, according to a statement by Malacañang.
The city government also expanded its TTMF and testing centers, which helped lower the Covid-19 cases of the city.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, Davao City Health Covid-19 focal person, said in a radio interview that comparing the two-week morbidity rate from the third and fourth week of November to the present week, there was a decrease in the recorded cases. In the past two weeks, the city recorded around 600 to 700 cases. But he said there was a 50-percent reduction based on the current Covid-19 data.
While Davao City’s case had somewhat improved, DOH-Davao noted that the Covid-19 trend in the provinces of Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur is increasing in the past days.
DOH-Davao Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit Officer Cleofe Tabada said in a virtual presser on Thursday, December 17, that while the general trend of cases in the entire region is going downwards, they noted that some areas in the region previously had zero cases but now recorded their first case.
“Pero ang general picture sa tibuok region is paubos (But the general picture of the region’s Covid-19 case trend is going down),” Tabada said.
Meanwhile, DOH-Davao saw the Christmas holiday as a factor in the possible surge of cases in the region. With this, local health officials encouraged the public to shy away from gatherings and parties, as these might be transmitting the virus.
New Year, New Strain?
While progress in the development of the vaccine is currently taking place, the world would have to brace 2021 with a new challenge.
A new variant of Sars-CoV-2, was first detected in October 2020 in the United Kingdom (UK) and has quickly begun to spread by mid-December to other countries. This was dubbed as “Variant of Concern 202012/01”
President Duterte immediately approved the temporary prohibition of flights from the UK, and entry of foreign travelers from 18 other countries and one territory from Wednesday, December 30, 2020, to January 15, 2021.
In response, Davao City will intensify the monitoring of its borders, especially the southernmost part of the city, following reports of a discovery of a new strain of the Covid-19 in Sabah, East Malaysia.
In a report from The Straits Times of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director-General of Malaysia’s Ministry of Health, announced on December 23 that a new strain of Covid-19, tagged as A701B mutation, was found from samples taken in Sabah.
“It is similar to a strain found in South Africa, Australia, and the Netherlands,” Abdullah was quoted in the report.
Lopez admitted the city has not yet devised concrete screening measures to determine whether these travelers are from the countries that have reported the new strain.
Despite this, Lopez said this is not something to panic over because there are still no concrete studies that show that the new strain is “deadlier” than the current Covid-19 strain. But he said the public should continue to comply with the minimum health protocols and lessen unnecessary movement to curb the transmission of the virus.
With the uncertainties of the pandemic, Duterte-Carpio, in her year-end message, called Dabawenyos should unite more than ever, as the city will still be facing another struggle brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is not the year nga magbulag-bulag tang tanan. Maghiusa gihapon tang tanan (This is not the time to be divided. We have to unite). Maghiusa gihapon ta (We have to unite) towards our common goal of security and development here in our city,” the Davao City mayor said.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “this is the challenge we must rise to in the new year.”
Despite this, Ghebreyesus said the health crisis also triggered the fastest and most wide-reaching response to a global health emergency in human history.
“[The year] 2020 has shown that governments must increase investment in public health, from funding access to Covid-19 vaccines for all people to making our systems better prepared to prevent and respond to the next, inevitable, pandemic,” he said.
