5 Delta variant cases in Cagayan de Oro safely isolated —mayor

Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno said Saturday that all five of the Delta variant cases in the locality have been safely isolated. 

“Lima, pero lahat na-isolate namin" (We detected five Delta cases, and all of them have been isolated), Moreno said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

Likewise, he said the local government has agreed to place Cagayan de Oro under the strictest quarantine classification -- enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) -- to avert the further transmission of the variant.

“Dumating itong balita sa (then came the news about the) Delta variant. Okay lang sa akin ang ECQ (it's fine with me) for the sake of caution,” he said.

As much as we can, we need to stop the variant's spread, he said in Filipino

Further, Moreno said that he agreed to place Cagayan de Oro under ECQ also because of the capacity of the healthcare facilities in the city, with the utilization rate of 63 to 62 percent.

Moreover, he said the city government has already asked the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC ) -- the main referral hospital in Region 10 -- to increase their bed allocation for COVID-19 cases.

“Ang allocated sa COVID-19  is less than 30 percent of the capacity. Kaya, nabibigatan ang CDO” (that is why the city is having a hard time), he said.

Malacañang on Friday announced that Cagayan de Oro, along with cities of Iloilo and Gingoog, Misamis Oriental, will be placed under ECQ until July 31 to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Also, the Department of Health reported that, so far, 11 local Delta variant cases have been detected, and five were from Cagayan de Oro City. The rest were in Manila (two cases), Misamis Oriental (one), Antique (two), and Pampanga (one).

Earlier, Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez appealed to the national government to provide financial assistance to families affected by the strictest quarantine restriction in the city.

Further, he urged the Inter-Agency Task Force to send a team of medical experts to the city to prevent the spread of the more infectious Delta variant in the area.

On Friday, Philippines recorded 1,496,328 total COVID-19 cases, after the DOH reported 5,676 new infections. —LBG, GMA News