Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 7) — Davao City’s chief executive said they are keeping a close eye on those who attended a three-day cockfight derby suspected as the ground zero of COVID-19 infection that placed the city under enhanced community quarantine.
Speaking at a Laging Handa network briefing on Tuesday, Mayor Sara Duterte said contact tracing is underway to identify people who came in contact with those who attended the three-day derby at the New Davao Matina Gallera in March. About 400 people are reportedly being tracked down by local health officials.
“Ang Department of Health tinutulungan sila ng Philippine National Police at National Intelligence Coordinating Agency para mapabilis yung kailangang contact tracing doon sa mga umattend nung Matina Gallera derby,” she said.
[Translation: The Philippine National Police is helping the Department of Health and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency to hasten contact tracing of those who attended the Matina Gallera derby.
READ: 5 doctors, 3 nurses get coronavirus in Davao City
However, Duterte said while doctors claim there may still be people at the derby who went unchecked, they were not inclined to believe that additional PUIs would come from that group.
“Yesterday tinanong ko yung doctor…dahil simula nung last derby which was March 12, ang kanila pong 14th day was March 26,” said Duterte. “So tinanong ko yung doctor, almost one month na or two incubation periods na galing doon sa derby and can we expect more patients from the derby. Sinasabi ng doctor possibly meron pang naiwan na hindi pa nacheck ng mga doctors, but hindi na sila masyado inclined to say malaki yung spike ng posibleng papasok na PUI ay dahil doon sa derby dahil ilang araw na lang po mako-complete na yung dalawang incubation period galing sa last fight nung derby.”
[Translation: I asked the doctor yesterday…because the last derby happened on March 12 and the 14th day would be March 26. I asked the doctor if we could expect more patients from the derby considering almost one month or two incubation periods have passed. The doctor said there could be persons still not checked, but they were not too inclined to say that there could be a big spike of PUIs from that group because two incubation periods will be completed in a few days from the last derby fight.]
The Davao region has 11 deaths due to COVID-19. Of this number, six people had exposure at the New Matina Gallera derby.
Atty. Marissa Marasigan-Torentera, OIC of the Business Permit and Licensing Division of Davao City, resigned on April 5 due to the incident.
The derby happened while Mayor Duterte ordered the cancellation of all events during the Araw ng Davao celebration in March. At the time, DOH had already ordered the public to avoid gatherings.
The city’s quarantine period will be until April 19. Duterte, however, said they would consult experts on what actions to take after the quarantine period expires.
“Lahat po ng actions ng regional task force dito sa Davao City, we do it in coordination with the epidemiologists of the Department of Health and we have sa private sector naman ay infectious disease specialists,” the mayor said. “So sila po yung kino-consult namin sa lahat ng ginagawa namin dahil sila po yung nakakaintindi, nakakaalam kung ano yung gagawin para macontrol yung COVID-419 infection,” the mayor said.
[Translation: All the actions of the regional task force in Davao City, we do it in coordination with the epidemiologists of the Department of Health, and in the private sector we have infectious disease specialists. We consult with them in all that we do because they are the most knowledgeable when it comes to controlling COVID-19.]
