‘Refusal to undergo tests may explain low cases’

DESPITE the recent decline to near zero daily Covid-19 cases in Cagayan de Oro City, it is not a solid indication that the virus had vanished for good, City Hall’s resident epidemiologist said today.

“Based (on the available data that I see), the indicators are lukewarm at best. There are two reasons that I can see why there is a low number of cases. One is that no one is undergoing testing and two, those that may be infected thought they can endure the symptoms so they opted not to be tested. Somewhere in the back of our minds, the low number of cases doesn’t mean there’s no more virus, likely no one got tested,” said City Health Office (CHO) epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Retuya Jr.

During Monday morning’s press briefing, Dr. Retuya said they continually monitor the test results of both public and private testing facilities daily for any signs of spikes in cases.

“Still, if these case numbers are to be considered we are very happy since it showed that the people of Cagayan de Oro City are doing their part to comply with minimum public health standards and to get themselves vaccinated,” he said.

During Monday morning’s flag-raising program, Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy called on the public to complete their vaccination and continue observing health protocols.

“If you noticed I still use my face masks whenever I speak to you because I was once infected and it took a lot of effort for me to recover… So let’s complete our doses and observe health protocols,” Mayor Uy told City Hall’s bureaucracy in Visayan.

City Health Officer Dr. Rachel Dilla said Cagayan de Oro City logged five new index cases, re-tagged one case to Iligan City, and five new recoveries for the Jan. 30 to February 5 period.

“On February 4 and 5, we had zero cases. This shows that our efforts as a community are paying off and we thank our medical frontliners and fellow workers in City Hall for their invaluable assistance,” Dr. Dilla said.

“We thank the parents and the teachers for helping the schoolchildren get vaccinated especially now that we have face-to-face classes,” Dr. Dilla said.

Of the five new cases, Dr. Retuya said the patients were either too young to get vaccinated or are elderly.

“Sad to say all five new cases are unvaccinated. Most of these victims are female and thankfully we don’t have severe cases,” Dr. Retuya said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)