Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte reminded Dabawenyos to ensure proper ventilation to facilitate air circulation inside homes and establishments as another way to reduce the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), even as the number of cases is decreasing in the city.
Speaking over the Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Monday, Duterte emphasized to the public that aside from adhering to the minimum public health standards, proper ventilation, especially in indoor or enclosed spaces, must also be observed to keep the virus away and maintain good indoor air quality.
“Importante ang pagpasabot sa tao sa ventilation. Kung pwede ablihan ang bintana dinha sa mga naay establishments and then ang sunod ana, kung mamahimo mag gamit sila ug mga air purifiers diha sulod sa ilang establishment (It is important to inform the public about proper ventilation. If possible, establishments should open the windows and use air purifiers inside their spaces),” the city mayor said.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier issued guidelines on indoor ventilation, recommending this practice to prevent the possible airborne transmission of COVID-19 although there is no conclusive evidence about this yet.
This will help bring in fresh air from the outside and minimize the recirculation of air.
Even with the significant decrease of cases in the city, she continues to remind the public to follow safety protocols, such as wearing masks, frequent hand hygiene, and social distancing.
On November 2, Duterte released an Executive Order (EO) lifting the mandatory use of plastic barriers inside public transport vehicles, making it voluntary. However, it was observed that some drivers do not follow the required number of passengers to be loaded causing overcrowding inside the unit.
Thus, the city mayor appealed to the drivers, especially for the public utility vehicles (PUV) and public utility jeepneys (PUJ), to comply with the guidelines. Those who fail to comply will be endorsed to the Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) and the traffic group of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO).
“With regards sa jeepneys na wala nay distancing i-endorse nato na sa atoang CTTMO ug sa atong Traffic Group sa Davao City Police Office to remind the drivers nga mag-implementar og distancing diha sa ilang public utility vehicles,” she said.
She added, “Mag remind lang ta sa riding public that you wear your mask and do not take off your mask anytime, ug kung naa mo sa crowded places or mga jeepneys na daghan og pasahero (I’d like to remind the riding public to wear your mask and do not take them off in crowded places or jeepneys that have a lot of passengers).”
Meanwhile, based on the Regional Situation Update on COVID-19 in Davao Region of the Department of Health (DOH) Davao as of November 7, Davao City has logged a total of 25 new cases. The city now has a total of 588 active cases.
“As per response cluster, continuing ang pagbaba sa COVID-19 cases sa atoang siyudad sa Davao and hopefully, magpadayon siya nga ingon ana ug wala natay surge nga masinati (As per response cluster, the cases is continuously decreasing in Davao City and I hope it will continue and we will not experience any surge),” Duterte said.
Duterte believes that the significant downtrend of cases can be attributed to the vigorous vaccination rollout in the city. She noted that in the past, although the city heightened the response and enforcement and practiced safety standards, it still experienced a COVID-19 surge.
But the number of Dabawenyos inoculated with the anti-COVID-19 vaccine is seen as a game-changer in the city’s fight against the unseen enemy.
She further assured that the system in the city such as test, trace, treat, and isolate is in place should there be another surge now that the Christmas season is coming. CIO