The provincial government of South Cotabato has raised alert over the possible spread of the more infectious Delta variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) following the confirmation last week of local cases in Northern Mindanao.
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo said Monday the chances of the dreaded mutant strain reaching the area is not remote, noting that Cagayan de Oro City, where the initial cases were reported, is only about seven hours away by land travel.
Bus company Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. has regular passenger trips daily to and from this city and Cagayan de Oro that passes through Koronadal City and several towns in the province.
He said the province is also among the regular routes of delivery trucks unloading cargo from various ports in Northern Mindanao.
“We are facing a challenging situation right now so we’re urging everyone to be more cautious and vigilant, and protect ourselves at all times,” he said in his radio program “Ang Gobernador kag ang Katawhan (the governor and the people).”
The governor reiterated that vaccination and compliance with the minimum health standards are the best way to prevent Covid-19 transmission, including its variants.
He said residents should make it a personal habit and commitment to wear face masks, especially in enclosed spaces, and observe other protocols such as the wearing of face shields and observance of safe physical distancing.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier recorded four cases of Covid-19 variants in South Cotabato, all returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who were found positive with the United Kingdom or Alpha, South African or Beta, and Brazilian or Gamma strains and have since recovered.
A case of the Indian or Delta variant was reported in this city last May but the patient, also a returning OFW, has recovered and no additional case has been detected.
The active Covid-19 cases in the province continued to decline in the last three weeks and only numbered 911 as of 6 p.m. Sunday, a significant drop from the previous peak of over 1,500.
The confirmed infections in the province since last year already reached a total of 8,396, the highest in Region 12 (Soccsksargen), and with 217 related deaths and 7,268 recoveries.
Tamayo said the province’s situation remained alarming due to the threat from the Covid-19 variants and the increasing cases in several municipalities.
He said aggressive contract tracing and testing activities have been continuing but these were affected by the limited capacity due to the lack of cartridges for the GeneXpert machines being used in its co-managed laboratory.
Specimen samples from the province are currently processed at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center laboratory in Cotabato City which usually takes three to four days before releasing the results.
Tamayo said they already requested additional cartridges from the DOH central office and expect their delivery in the coming days.
Source: Philippines News Agency
