Sabuga-a: Uncooperative close contacts can be criminally liable

CLOSE contacts of confirmed Covid-19 positive patients can be held ‘criminally liable’ if they provide false information that prevented City Hall’s contact tracing teams from locating them for immediate extraction and isolation.

“Ako dili ako abugado but I think (these close contacts who provide false information) can be held criminally liable. Imagine that, they are (misleading the contact tracing teams with) false or wrong information that prevents our teams from contacting them (for immediate extraction and isolation),” said acting City Administrator Teodoro Sabuga-a during this morning’s virtual City Hall flag-raising ceremony.

Sabuga-a echoed a previous appeal made by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno during one of City Hall’s press briefings held early in May just as Covid-19 cases in the city were surging to over 50 a day. Moreno said the city’s contact tracing teams were having difficulty locating the close contacts of Covid-19 positive cases which exposed the community to infection.

Though the ongoing surge of Covid-19 cases filled the city’s isolation facilities, its private and public hospitals to capacity, Mayor Moreno said they are trying to find ways to open more isolation units and temporary treatment monitoring facilities.

“As much as possible we want the close contacts to be quarantined from the community by housing them in isolation facilities,” Moreno said.

“I hope the City Legal Office can find ways and means to take legal action (on these uncooperative close contacts). I think Dr. Lorraine (acting City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery) will provide us with the necessary documents and data (to build our case against them). I also don’t know about the other local governments, I think Baguio City (is) taking action (on these uncooperative contacts),” Sabuga-a said.

Sabuga-a said City Hall is upholding the Data Privacy Act in its contact tracing efforts.

“For those close contacts not providing the exact contact information to our contact tracing teams, how would this affect the entire community (if they display symptoms and test positive)? If they are positive asymptomatic, God forbid they infect others who are weak, who may die of Covid-19,” Sabuga-a said in the dialect.

“Kining pandemya, kining krisis dili ni tiyaw-tiyawan kay kinabuhi ang bugti niini. Kapoy na ang atong mga frontliners apan ang Covid-19 virus di siya kapuyan. Mao na atong gihangyo lang gyod kooperasyon gud sa katawhan. Disiplina lang sa kaugalingon mao na importante,” Sabuga-a said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)