Cebu City’s low COVID-19 numbers a Camomot miracle?

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama considers as a “miracle” -- probably through the intercession of Archbishop Teofilo Camomot – the fact that the city’s COVID-19 cases remain low over two weeks after the elections.

Other areas in the country have reportedly started to show a positive growth rate or a noticeable increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

Cebu City, for its part, has 20 active cases as of this writing.

Rama said he does not want to brag about it as nobody knows when the virus strikes back, but he felt the “love of Sto. Niño protecting the Cebuanos and probably an intercession from Archbishop Camomot” who was recently declared “venerable”.

“Dili lang sa ta manghinambog no but the most important is, palangga ta sa Senyor Santo Nino. Hugot sad atong pagtuo. Pasalamat ta. Unya naa pa si Bishop Camomot. Wata kasiguro, si Bishop Camomot apil nagdupa para kanatong tanan,” said Rama, who believes in the power of prayers.

“Ug wa ta kahibaw kaning atong giagian milagro ni… Wala lang siguro ma-recognize, pero kaning atong naagian, milagro ni. Nganong dili man ni siya milagro?” Rama added.

Rama recalled the many apprehensions about the easing of restrictions in Cebu City. He said he heard and read many people commenting that the mass gatherings due to political sorties would bring about a post-election surge, but this did not happen – at least as of yet.

Miracle or not, the mayor assured that all stakeholders continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation in the city.

Rama also reminded everyone to continue to be mindful of the minimum public health standards, get vaccinated or boosted, and never be complacent.

“Amping lang gyud ta. Unya dili lang ta mokumpyansa para mo-continue ni na dili mosaka. Walay kumo sa ampo,” he said.

While cases are low in Cebu City, its contact tracers are now being trained to help in the city’s dengue operations and other health issues.

Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the City’s Emergency Operations Center, said they have around 500 contact tracers who are now being trained by batch.

Aside from the contact tracers, barangay responders will also be trained to help in the dengue operations in the barangays.

Once the training is done, they will be deployed in barangays where there are cases of dengue.

The EOC is also continuing with its purok vaccination for Covid-19 to protect the Cebuanos from whatever variants of the Covid-19 virus. — Decemay P. Padilla, JMD (FREEMAN)