No doctors and medical personnel in Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) or the City Health Office (CHO) were recruited to augment the medical frontliners in the National Capital Region (NCR), local health officials said Tuesday noon, August 4.

“I received a text message from Regional Director Adriano Suba-an of the Department of Health (DOH-10) confirming the recruitment of five doctors, 15 nurses and three medical technologists to the NCR. But they are part of the DOH Doctors to the Barrios program that augmented our COVID-19 response program so they will be re-deployed,” City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery said during Tuesday noon´s press briefing.

NMMC liaison officer Dr. Bernard Julius Rocha also confirmed that no doctors and medical personnel were recruited from their ranks by the DOH to augment the medical frontliners in Manila and parts of the NCR. The DOH move came after medical groups appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte for a two-week lockdown to help them prepare for contingencies in handling the surge of COVID-19 cases.

“For one thing, the NMMC is the main COVID-19 referral hospital in northern Mindanao and we are on a constant state of alert for any surge in COVID-19. The latest COVID-19 death involving an elderly female resident of Barangay Lumbia in Cagayan de Oro City is a reminder (that the COVID-19 threat is anything but over),” Dr. Rocha said.

City Health Office (CHO) resident epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya confirmed that while they intensified their tracing of persons who had contact with the elderly female patient, he knew of fellow epidemiologists in northern Mindanao who are anticipating to be called by DOH to augment the NCR´s contact tracing activities there.

As of August 2, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao has already reached 576.

Out of the total positive cases, 505 came from Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) or Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Positive cases in Cagayan de Oro City alone reached 159 (actual count), wherein 127 came from LSIs/ROFs.

Figures from CDO also indicated 60 people on quarantine, 92 recoveries, 6 deaths, and 1 currently admitted at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), the regional COVID-19 referral hub.

Records from the Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler (FASSSTER Philippines) have indicated that the case doubling time for CDO is at 14.41% with 15.38% Critical Care Utilization Rate (CCUR) for the period of July 10-18, 2020.

FASSSTER Philippines is an evidence-based forecast of possible cases and scenarios on the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has placed the entire Region 10 under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) status until August 15, 2020.

The MGCQ status is the transition phase between GCQ and New Normal when the following temporary measures are relaxed and become less necessary: (1) limiting movement and transportation, (2) the regulation of operating industries, and (3) the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.

#NagkahiusaBatokCOVID19 #CDOCOVID19Response #iCanDOit #HealAsOne #COVIDI19PH

Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno again extended anew his offer for City Hall to house COVID-19 patients from the towns in Misamis Oriental in the city’s temporary treatment management facility (TTMF) after learning of reports about the temporary two-week closure of a provincial hospital in one of its towns.

“As much as I wanted to avoid commenting on it because I would again be accused of politicking, it both pains and bothers me to learn about what happened to the Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospital in Balingasag town,’ Mayor Moreno said during Saturday noon’s (Aug. 1) press briefing.

The Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospital in Balingasag closed for two weeks starting July 31 after three of their administrative personnel tested positive of COVID-19. Misamis Oriental already recorded over 60 COVID-19 positive cases of whom half are locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

“If they wanted, they could ask us to fetch these personnel at Balingasag and we can house them at the city’s TTMF. I asked (Paul Douglas) Rocky Calingin (head of City Hall’s Operation Tabang LSI/ROF) to extend City Hall’s offer of assistance to the mayors in Misamis Oriental and coordinate with them in their cases,” Mayor Moreno said.

City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery said the city’s TTMF also houses authorized persons outside residence (APOR) who aren’t city residents but have tested positive for COVID-19. “The City Health Office (CHO) and JR Borja General Hospital (JRBGH) prepared contingencies to include assisting the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) should it be overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases,” Dr. Nery said.

In extending the city’s offer of assistance to the province’s towns, Mayor Moreno said City Hall already developed a functional, capable COVID-19 response system to handle cases in the city.

“The city is prepared to offer within its means to house COVID-19 patients from the province as much as it can,” Mayor Moreno said.

“Just like when Libertad town recorded its first COVID-19 case, I told Dr. Nery to reach out to the Provincial Health Office and to Misamis Oriental health officers to reiterate our offer of the city’s assistance to house their COVID-19 positive cases to avoid any accusations of politicking on our part,” Mayor Moreno said.

This year’s annual Higalaay Festival may be scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic but it need not be less festive for Cagayan de Oro City’s residents and those who consider the city their home, City Hall’s tourism chief said Monday morning, August 3.

“We wish to clarify and emphasize that 90 to 95 percent of the core and parallel events will be virtual or done online. All these events will be broadcast live in our Higalaay Festival Facebook page and we are asking the public to please like, share and support our FB page (to their families and friends),” City Tourism Officer Chedillyn Dulquime said in Monday morning’s press briefing.

The Higalaay Festival will be launched through its Facebook page at 5 pm Monday. “Last year our festival’s core and parallel events were certified crowd drawers with people lining up the streets to witness the parade and other activities. This year, the virtual celebration of the festival means we comply with minimum public health standards,” Dulquime said.

She also lauded organizers of events like the Miss Cagayan de Oro pageant and the three-day Kumbira food festival and competition “for rising to the challenge” of revamping their programs to comply with the mandated minimum public health standards set by the Department of Health (DOH) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For one, the fluvial parade will only have 10 pump boats. But those selling their produce and products during the festival will be allowed to showcase them online through our FB page. The pandemic gave us city residents the opportunity to become creative in staging their events,” Dulquime said.

City residents and returning Kagay-anons that are undergoing home quarantine were reminded anew by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno to stay at home and complete their two-week quarantine to completely avoid infecting others.

“We are aware of what’s happening but the challenge remains on how we preempt and solve our problem and to develop our response to this problem in particular on home quarantine,” Mayor Moreno said during Wednesday noon’s press briefing.

Mayor Moreno cited the returning Kagay-anons who secured permission from their respective barangays to undergo home quarantine provided they stay inside their rooms for two weeks.

“The likelihood of them going outside is a real possibility and presents bigger challenges and extra work for our barangay health workers who monitor them,” Mayor Moreno said.

City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery said based on their data, about 397 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and 265 authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) underwent or are undergoing home quarantine from June 14 to July 27.

“Admittedly the home quarantine is our blind spot. Like in driving and basketball, there are blind spots in which we don’t see what’s happening. Which is why I prefer and insist that all arrivals be brought straight to the city isolation units for quarantine,” Mayor Moreno said.

Dr. Nery said home quarantine is allowed only when the returning Kagay-anon secures permission from the barangay he or she lives in and their homes were assessed by barangay health workers as suitable for quarantine. She said barangay officials can decide not to accept home quarantine if they choose to.

“Anyway it’s a matter of only seven days because the arrivals will undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests by then and if they test negative they can go home and continue their quarantine there. If they test positive they are brought immediately to the temporary treatment management facility,” Mayor Moreno said.

Cagayan de Oro City’s celebration of its annual fiesta may be subdued, even downscaled, but it won’t be less significant nor meaningful amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Oscar Moreno said Thursday noon, July 30.

“I was reminded of the July 26 bombing in 2013 during my first three year term and I remembered being asked if the city fiesta will continue,” Mayor Moreno said in Thursday noon’s press briefing. “Even with Davao City back then declaring a downscaled celebration of its fiesta, I replied that the city fiesta will go on. This year it will continue but we won’t forget our enforcement and observance of minimum health standards.”

Cagayan de Oro City Hall will launch its Higalaay Festival this coming Monday, Aug. 3 at 5 pm. In keeping with the religious nature of the fiesta, Mayor Moreno said the highlight of this year’s celebration will be the installation of incoming Archbishop Jose Cabantan, who will replace outgoing Archbishop Antonio Ledesma on Aug. 28.

Also listed among the confirmed activities for the fiesta is the virtual staging of the Miss Cagayan de Oro pageant. “I would like to thank Mags Cue and City Hall officials for pushing through with the event (even with the health safety protocols required),” Mayor Moreno said.

“Even if she is still in the US due to travel restrictions I would also like to thank (Local Economic Investments Promotion Officer) Eileen San Juan for helping spearhead the preparations for the annual fiesta. The collective efforts of everyone concerned (to push through with the fiesta) is both heartwarming and uplifting (amid the pandemic),” Mayor Moreno said.

The second batch of returning Kagay-anons that included those who were stranded at the Rizal Memorial Sports Center were fetched and brought straight to the city’s isolation units at 6 am last Monday, the chief of City Hall’s Operation Tabang LSI/ROF said Thursday noon, July 30.

“Last Wednesday evening we were informed that a resident of Barangay 18 got stranded in Nasipit port in Butuan City because he failed to board the vessel headed to Cagayan de Oro City and his listed address was mistaken for Magsaysay town instead of Magsaysay Street in Cagayan de Oro City,” said Paul Douglas Calingin who heads Operation Tabang LSI/ROF (Locally Stranded Individual/Returning Overseas Filipino).

Calingin, also concurrent assistant department head of the City Agricultural Productivity Office, said they asked help from Kinoguitan Mayor Lilibeth Lagbas to fetch the Kagay-anon resident from Nasipit port and bring him to Balingasag town where a City Hall team waited to deliver him straight to the city’s isolation unit. “We picked him up at 4 am Thursday and he is now at the city isolation unit,” Calingin said.

Calingin also said they were informed by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) that a batch of non-Kagay-anons are scheduled to arrive tomorrow at 6AM. “Even if they are not from the city, we will ready our teams to fetch them should the OCD ask for our help which we are willing to give,” Calingin said.

Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno earlier offered the city’s assistance to help fetch and provide for non-Kagay-anon arrivals who were to be brought to the holding area reserved for northern Mindanao passengers at the University of Science and Technology in the Philippines (USTP) Southern Mindanao campus gym.

As of July 28, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao has already reached 498.

Out of the total positive cases, 433 came from Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) or Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Positive cases in Cagayan de Oro City alone reached 140 (actual count), wherein 110 came from LSIs/ROFs.

Figures from CDO also indicated 60 out-patients, 74 recoveries, and 6 deaths.

Records from the Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler (FASSSTER Philippines) have indicated that the case doubling time for CDO is at 14.41% with 15.38% Critical Care Utilization Rate (CCUR) for the period of July 10-18, 2020.

FASSSTER Philippines is an evidence-based forecast of possible cases and scenarios on the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has placed the entire Region 10 under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) status until July 31, 2020.

The MGCQ status is the transition phase between GCQ and New Normal when the following temporary measures are relaxed and become less necessary: (1) limiting movement and transportation, (2) the regulation of operating industries, and (3) the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.

#NagkahiusaBatokCOVID19 #CDOCOVID19Response #iCanDOit #HealAsOne #COVIDI19PH

COVID-19 patients quarantined in Cagayan de Oro City’s Temporary Treatment Management Facility (TTMF) will undergo repeated tests until their results turn out negative, Mayor Oscar Moreno and City Health Office (CHO) officials said Tuesday noon, July 28.

Mayor Moreno and CHO resident epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya gave this assurance during Tuesday noon’s press briefing as they also reminded recovered patients to avoid being infected again by strictly observing minimum health safety standards. These protocols include staying at home, handwashing, wearing of face masks, and physical distancing when going outside.

“For those families whose loved ones are quarantined in the city’s isolation units or TTMF, once they return home and they isolate themselves, there is zero chance of them infecting others,” Mayor Moreno said.

“That’s the city’s guarantee because they underwent testing on the fifth, sixth or seventh day of their quarantine and if they test negative, then they can return to their families and finish the second week of their quarantine at home.”

Returning Kagay-anons and city residents who are quarantined in the city’s isolation units or at the TTMF if they test positive for COVID-19 undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing which is 95% accurate and more reliable than Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT).

Dr. Retuya said as much but reminded recovered patients not to take chances by indiscriminately going outside without wearing their face masks and risking exposure to COVID-19 through close contacts in crowded places and closed spaces with poor ventilation.

“Recovered patients should finish the second week of their quarantine to allow their bodies to generate enough antibodies to fight COVID-19,” Dr. Retuya said. “But just because they recovered and tested negative doesn’t mean they cannot be infected anymore. So like everyone else they should stay at home and go out only when needed and to wear face masks and observing physical distancing.”

Mayor Moreno said: “It would be more problematic if these patients don’t undergo testing before they are discharged and sent back to their homes. We are being conservative by requiring additional tests to make sure there are no more remnants of COVID-19 inside the patient before he or she returns to his or her family.”

Cagayan de Oro City´s contact tracing and household surveillance system can be ranked among the best in the country since it helped limit COVID-19 cases even before City Hall acquired testing machines and test kits last May.

“Baguio City´s contact tracing system gained nationwide recognition and is adopted in Cebu City which experienced a surge in cases. I can safely say with confidence that our contact tracing system and intensified household surveillance produced good results even before we managed to acquire our testing equipment,” Mayor Moreno said during Wednesday noon´s press briefing.

From a few hundred families before the March 13 citywide quarantine took effect, the City Health Office (CHO) conducted a health profile of over 180,000 families in Cagayan de Oro City that is instrumental in monitoring cases of acute respiratory illness (ARI) and influenza-like illness (ILI) that are most likely to lead to COVID-19, said CHO resident epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya.

Dr. Retuya, who helped monitor suspect cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)—the forerunner of COVID-19—in Cagayan de Oro City in the early 2000s, leads a network of barangay health workers, community development volunteers and barangay nutrition scholars in conducting citywide contact tracing.

This grassroots monitoring network dubbed by Mayor Moreno in the daily press briefings as “Retuya´s Army” was expanded last May to include barangay tanods and the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) who assigned seven police officers per precinct to beef up the contact tracers in their monitoring and household surveillance particularly in areas under localized quarantine.

“Contact tracing is not a perfect science but we train everyone on board on how to interview and collect useful data from persons who either had contact or exposure to suspected COVID-19 cases or had a history of ARI and ILI. Whether by phone or face to face interviews, we make sure to get their numbers and information so (we are on top of everything),” Dr. Retuya said.

Mayor Moreno said the city´s contact tracing system is instrumental in monitoring close contacts of returning Kagay-anons. “Before, the moment a suspect case is admitted at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), we conduct contact tracing right away. Now with the city´s testing capacity, we can identify, isolate and treat positive cases and trace their contacts efficiently,” Mayor Moreno said.