Delta overtakes Alpha in Baguio

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY -- Delta variant now tops the city’s list of known Covid-19 variants of concern in this summer capital.
In latest bio-surveillance report of the Philippine Genome Center dated Nov. 7, 2021, 18 new results were added and all were Delta variant cases.
     This brought to 124 the total detected Delta cases outnumbering Alpha and Beta with 116 and 52, respectively.
    All in all, the city has 292 VOCs detected as of said date.
    City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo said the specimens of the 18 newly detected cases were collected from Oct. 15-18 and all of the patients had already recovered.
    Since Aug. 28, the PGC had been reporting more Delta cases in the city proving the more virulent variant’s dominance in the city which battled the surge in cases for one month and three weeks before realizing a downtrend.
    Mayor Benjamin Magalong said there are actually more Delta cases than in the city what was reported by the PGC.
    PGC's findings were only for surveillance and not for diagnostic purposes so the number it releases does not reflect the actual volume of the variant cases in the city, the mayor said.  
    This, as a mild "saddle" or rebound in Covid-19 cases can be expected in the next few days.
    But Mayor Magalong is optimistic the city can have a better Christmas celebration this year with the gains in vaccination and continued cooperation of the populace on health protocols and strict implementation of restrictions.
    “Hopefully talagang bumaba na sya kasi alam nyo naman everytime we open our economy, our tourism industry maraming umaakyat and according to our triage, meron pa rin tayong nadedetect na positive cases kaya iyun ang binbantayan natin,” the mayor said.
    “But the good thing is we have high vaccination rate and we have a highly compliant community so we hope na bababa pa lalo ang cases.  Our prognosis is that our cases will continue to go down we foresee a better, a more lively and pleasant Christmas in the City of Baguio,” the mayor told the media last week.
    The mild saddle projection was reported by the mayor during his meeting with the Management Committee meeting Nov. 9 based on readings from the various risk indicators and mobility data of the city.
    "We will be expecting a slight saddle next week.  Hopefully, it will not go beyond the reproduction number threshold of 1.0," the mayor told department heads to alert concerned departments and offices.
    Before the pronouncement, department heads had considered temporarily retiring some of the facilities utilized at the height of the Delta variant scourge and cutting down orders for oxygen to cut on costs after cases decreased following the Delta variant-driven spike.
    The mayor said they will continue to watch the developments and act proactively.
    Saddling refers to the instance when cases go on a downtrend then settles some to form a plateau before suddenly shooting up again.
    The city had reopened its tourism industry to help the economic sector recover but it makes sure that it is done slowly, safely and surely, the mayor said.