COTABATO CITY – The creation of a dedicated hotline to locate North Cotabato residents who attended the Davao cockfight derby last month has proven to be crucial in the province's fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Dr. Philbert Malaluan, head of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Covid-19 incident command post, said the launch of the TF Sabong hotline has helped local authorities effectively trace potential Covid-19 patients who attended the Davao derby that has been linked to several infections.
North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco earlier created the sub-TF Sabong and launched hotline numbers for the public to share information on the identities and location of residents present in the March 6 to 13 cockfight.
Catamco also created tracer teams to locate the derby attendees in North Cotabato’s 17 municipalities and Kidapawan City.
At least 11 derby attendees from various parts of Mindanao have tested positive for Covid-19 and died.
Malaluan, who is also a member of North Cotabato’s Provincial Board, said that through the TF Sabong hotline, the IATF on Covid-19 learned that there were 227 derby attendees from North Cotabato – not 56 as earlier reported -- who may have had close contact with Covid-19 positive attendees.
Kidapawan City has the highest number of derby attendees with 53, including a City Council member, followed by Kabacan with 22, Carmen (21), and Makilala (19).
Malaluan said 208 of the 227 attendees have been cleared by local health offices.
“These 208 people have undergone 14-day straight quarantine with no coronavirus symptoms,” he added.
The “cleared” derby attendees are 15 from Pikit town, Antipas (14), Libungan (14), M’lang (13), Pres. Roxas (9), Pigcawayan (
, Matalam (6), Tulunan (5), Arakan (2), Magpet (2), Alamada (1) and Aleosan (1).
Malaluan said 19 more attendees remained not cleared by health authorities, 15 of whom are on home quarantine and four were admitted in Kidapawan City isolation facility.
The results of their laboratory tests have yet to be known.
Those not yet cleared were from Kabacan with five persons, Kidapawan City (4), Makilala (4), Carmen (1), and Midsayap (1).
“They are regularly monitored by the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERT) and isolation facility front-liners,” Malaluan said.
Among the derby attendees from the province, two were found positive of the virus.
They are PH 3272 from Midsayap, who has fully recovered and is now with his family, and PH 3989 from Kidapawan City, whose laboratory test result is still pending.
Malaluan appealed to anyone with information of derby attendees to update the task force through hotline number 0961-578-3048.
“So far, so good. The work of TF Sabong contact tracing continues,” he said, adding that the provincial government remains on top of the situation. (PNA)
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Topic: 2 of 227 NoCot residents in Davao derby positive for Covid-19 (Read 217 times)