CAGAYAN de Oro’s top epidemiologist today brushed aside claims about a “Covid victim” in Barangay Bayabas even as he reiterated that there was only one confirmed Covid-19 case in the city.

Dr. Joselito Retuya said local health workers have been closely monitoring the city’s barangays, and they have no “person under investigation” and “person under monitoring” on record except for “new arrivals.”

Retuya said there is only one confirmed Covid-19 case in Cagayan de Oro City and the patient recovered and was already discharged from the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC). The man, referred to as Patient 597, is not from Barangay Bayabas, according to Retuya.

While busy monitoring “new arrivals” or Cagayan de Oro residents who came from other parts of the country, the City Health Office also found itself refuting what it called rumors about Covid-19 cases that were being circulated in social media.

One was that a Covid-19 patient was undergoing home quarantine in Barangay Bayabas in the past three weeks.

Health officials cited one post on Facebook made by Sonriza Resort owner Jesus “Ritchie” Salloman: “DOH [Department of Health] has a lot of explanation to do. Why was the Covid victim (already on his 23rd day) allowed to quarantine himself at his residence at Barangay Bayabas? The whole populace of Barangay Bayabas jolted about his presence.”

Dr. Lorraine Nery, city health officer, said there is not a single Covid-19 case in Barangay Bayabas based on their house-to-house surveillance and profiling operation records.

Dr. Nery called on netizens to avoid spreading unverified cases in social media.

“If you happen to know of any PUM who came from areas outside the city with a record of local Covid-19 case, please report to the nearest Barangay Health Emergency Response Team or the City Health Office,” Nery said.

For his part, Dr. Ian Christian Gonzales, chief of the DOH-10 Infectious Diseases Cluster, urged residents to inform their office directly rather than spread stories on social media.

“I-report directly sa atong office kung naa mo’y info dili kay ipasa-pasa lang sa inyong mga FB groups. Dili na matubag inyong pangutana kung ipasa-pasa lang ang messages,” Gonzales said.

Retuya said, “I have to ask, what is the mode of testing (if there is really a Covid-19 case in Barangay Bayabas)? Second, let me reiterate that mode of transmission is direct contact with the infected person, at least one to two meters,” he said.

Retuya added: “If you happen to pass by the house of what people say is a ‘Covid-19 victim’ or a ‘Covid-19 victim’ at the NMMC, you won’t be infected because you have to be at least one to two meters in direct contact with the victim who can only transmit the infection through droplets.”

He said the virus can also be transmitted through direct contact with inanimate objects and high-contact surfaces, even floors, that the infected person had contact with.

Retuya said the City Health Office (CHO) and the Department of Health (DOH) are “very transparent.”

Bayabas barangay chairman Eddie Abrogar, however, said there is one person who reportedly showed Covid-19-like symptoms in his village. The 45-year-old man, he said, attended the controversial Matina Gallera derby in Davao City, and he is renting a house in Zone 4, Bayabas.

Over Magnum Radio, Abrogar said the information about the man came from barangay health worker Jannette Rodriguez.

Abrogar said he was even told by Rodriguez, “Ayaw pagduol nako, Kap, kay PUI siya.” He said Rodriguez visited the man.

Abrogar said the man is in isolation; he was required to undergo self-quarantine.

Abrogar said he tried to bring the matter to the attention of health officials in the hope the man would be admitted to the NMMC so he could be examined but to no avail. He said he hoped health officials would include the man in their PUI list.

He said he still wants the man to be brought to the NMMC even after his home quarantine period. (Cong B. Corrales and Ben Balce, with reports from Stephen Capillas, CIO)