Covid cases up in Zambo

THE NUMBER of active Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga City continues to climb as health authorities and the local government warned residents to strictly follow the public health protocols due to the grave threats posed by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the new coronavirus.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported more than 300 active Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga City and over 600 deaths so far since the pandemic began in March last year. But the local government’s figure is much higher with more than 400 active Covid-19 cases and death toll at over 600 as of September 6. It also reported a total of seven cases of the Delta variant based on the late genomic sequencing report of the DOH.

One local doctor said the increase in Covid-19 cases may be due to the Delta variant. “The X-ray is not good and the number of active Covid cases is increasing,” he said, referring to the imaging tests of patients’ lungs who suffer from the deadly respiratory disease.

“This is no joke. People should follow the health protocols and hospitals should stock up on oxygen cylinders in case the situation worsens,” he added.

Chief Covid-19 frontliner, Mayor Beng Climaco has repeatedly appealed to residents to wear face masks and face shields when in public areas, and to frequently wash their hands with soap and water, or disinfect them with alcohol or sanitizer.

But many residents are hard-headed and complacent as authorities continue to apprehend hundreds of violators of health protocols.

“Como siempre tiene cuidao, maskin donde, maskin cuando. Compli maga reglamento de Covid protocols - usa el face mask y face shield, firmi lava mano y mantene distancia fisika y esta protegido contra el coronavirus. The fight against the Covid-19 is not of the government alone. This is a personal battle between staying safe from getting infected with the virus. It is up to each and every one of us to ensure the safety of everybody, the safety of our family members and that is why it is important to follow the strict health protocols by always wearing our face mask and face shield and observing physical distance at public places,” Climaco said.

She said the emergence of the Delta variant is scaring health experts around the world because it is more virulent than all known Covid-19 variants at this time. “It has become the dominant variant in many countries, including the neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia and we don’t want it to spread here and that’s why we are doubling our efforts to vaccinate the people to prevent serious illness that needs hospitalization,” Climaco said.

“As we are thankful that we are now under GCQ, we really need to maintain our Covid protocols to continue lowering the cases. We need to exert more effort,” she said, referring to personal health responsibilities of each resident to help fight or control the spread of the virus. 

“Our death toll and the daily positive cases are not a sign for us to relax. It is a sign for us to continue to cooperate, to strengthen our safety measures, self-regulate and self-discipline. All our frontliners have dedicated and poured out their efforts to keep you safe. It’s about time that we cooperate,” Climaco further said. 

Security forces manning Covid-19 checkpoints and barangay leaders and tanods continue to apprehend health protocol violators by the hundreds every day. Many of those apprehended were not wearing face masks or face shields while in public places and people who attended mass gatherings which are prohibited by the local government.

Border guards also intercepted or stopped dozens of travellers trying to enter Zamboanga City without health requirements such as RT-PCR test and S-PASS which are required under Climaco’s executive order.

The Covid-19, first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness cases in Wuhan City in the Chinese province of Hubei, was initially reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019. And on March 11, 2020, the WHO declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, its first such designation since declaring H1N1 influenza a pandemic in 2009. (Zamboanga Post)