Capitol slams DOH adviser's claim

CEBU, Philippines —  The provincial government of Cebu is protesting a statement it deemed “irresponsible” from a member of the technical advisory group of the Department of Health (DOH) on the recent surge of COVID-19 infections here.

Dr. Edsel Salvana’s statement blaming Cebu’s alleged “less stringent protocols” for the surge did not sit well with Governor Gwen Garcia.

 “How dare you blame Cebu, you better backup your statement with clear data because we have our own data to refute you,” Garcia said.

 The Capitol is sending a formal letter of protest against Salvana to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III.

 The Cebu Provincial Board is also set to pass a resolution calling out Salvana for his “irresponsible and totally biased declaration not supported by clear data.”

In a statement, Salvana said the DOH technical advisory group reminded Cebu of the highly transmissible delta variant during their visit last June.

“Given that previous variants of concern had entered the Philippines from international sources, the TAG wanted to make sure that returning Filipinos were properly quarantined and tested prior to being allowed into the community,” Salvana said.

He said that in spite the IATF rule of swabbing retuning Filipinos on the 7th day and additional four days of LGU-monitored home quarantine for good measure, Cebu insisted on its swab upon arrival and monitor returning Filipinos at home if tested negative on the first swab test.

 “The TAG felt that this would miss almost all cases of infection acquired en route to our country, since it typically takes three or more days for RT-PCR tests to turn positive from the time of exposure.  In addition, they could potentially expose their families to a variant of concern,” Salvana added.

But Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, who is now a consultant of the provincial government, said the recent surge in Cebu “maybe multi- factorial in nature: human behaviors that is likely due to COVID fatigue while for those who were vaccinated - that false sense of complacency that they have the full protection from contracting the virus.”

 Loreche said it is not Cebu that is causing the spread of delta variant because it was first detected in the country on May 11, 2021 from two returning overseas Filipinos.

 During this time, the MCIAA was doing two tests for arriving OFWs and ROFs, which is the swab upon arrival and day 5 which was adjusted to day 7 in compliance to IATF guidelines.

“Samples that were PCR positive and that passed the criteria set by the Philippine Genomic Center for those tested upon arrival and days 5 or 7 showed negative for the delta variant. It was only from the 123 samples collected from the community covering the periods of July 4-10,2021 that delta variant was confirmed,” Loreche said.

She added that the contact tracing data also showed that all those who tested positive for delta had no history of travel nor contacts with an OFW/ ROF who is confirmed for the said variant. — FPL (FREEMAN)