“Wala pa mi nadawat na confirmatory data from the Department of Health (DOH) kung naa bay isa or duha dira from Davao City. We are still waiting for the final data (We have not received any confirmatory data yet if any of the five Omicron cases are from Davao City),” said Davao City Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser in a radio interview on Friday, January 21.
This comes after the DOH-Davao announced on January 20 that five Covid-19 cases with the Omicron variant were detected in Davao Region. One of the cases was tagged as a resident of Davao City.
But Schlosser emphasized that although they have to receive the report from DOH, the public should assume that the said variant of the virus is already circulating in and outside of the city.
“We cannot be too lenient. The fact that we have five sa (in) Davao Region, it’s just a matter of time. We have to assume that the virus is already in front of us,” she said.
With this, Schlosser emphasized that the public should strongly follow preventive measures since the Omicron variant is 10 times more transmissible compared to previous variants.
Schlosser said Davao City will follow the same strategy to handle the anticipated Omicron variant, which is the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Reintegration (PDITR) strategy set by DOH, as well as vaccination, booster dose, and the Minimum Public Health Standards (MPHS).
“Wala nag bago atong prevention because it’s the same virus, iba lang ang iyang manner of transmission (Our preventive measures did not change because it’s the same virus, it just has a different manner of transmission),” she said.
Meanwhile, Schlosser reported that Davao City is currently at 48.34 percent positivity rate following the spike in Covid-19 cases.
“Nikabat na gyod tag 1,000 sobra for two days in a row. Actually, the positivity rate is by far the highest positivity rate na natala diri sa Davao (We’ve reached more than 1,000 for two days in a row),” said Schlosser.
According to her, at least 15 percent of the active cases are vaccinated but this may still increase since some cases are pending verification.
As of January 20, DOH-Davao reported 1,020 new cases in Davao City, bringing the total active cases to 4,578, the highest among the other provinces in Davao Region.
