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Netizens expressed their confusion as to why Davao City can’t be called the new COVID-19 “epicenter” in the country despite the spike of cases in the area.
According to the Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the term may lead people to think that the cases originated in Davao City. She added that DOH “discourages” the use of the term for describing the rise of cases in the area.
“No, Davao City is not an epicenter. We continue to closely monitor the situation in Davao City due to increasing cases,” Vergeire said during a message to the reporters.
She added that the pandemic epicenters are interpreted by others as the origin of the virus.
“It is also meant to connote the area as a hotspot for the infection. We discourage the use of the term ‘epicenter’ in describing the rise of cases in an area.”
Bernaby Lo tweeted a screenshot of the news 11 months ago with the DOH stating that Metro Manila is the COVID-19 epicenter.
“Pwedeng tawaging COVID epicenter ang Metro Manila pero ang Davao hindi,” Lo asked.
Pwedeng tawaging COVID epicenter ang Metro Manila pero ang Davao hindi. pic.twitter.com/gy1PwSzP12
— Barnaby Lo 吳宗鴻 (@barnabychuck) June 10, 2021
Another netizen pointed out that if Davao can’t be dubbed as the epicenter as the virus didn’t originate in the area, then Manila also can’t be called as such.
Aba eh kung hindi puwedeng tawagin na epicenter ang Davao City dahil hindi riyan ang origin ng virus then, NCR should not be called epicenter as well as the virus did not originate in NCR
— Cholo Living ⭐⭐⭐⭐▪️ (@CholoI_) June 10, 2021
Someone accused DOH of propagandizing Davao as a city immune to criticisms.
DOH style ng propaganda vaccination para immune ang Davao sa criticisms
— Rommel Lopez #DefendPressFreedom (@RommelFLopez) June 10, 2021
“Because it goes against the narrative that Davao is heaven on earth in the Philippines coz Duterte,” a netizen wrote.
Because it goes against the narrative that Davao is heaven on earth in the Philippines coz Duterte. https://t.co/jKh5pUahv3
— JM Deblois (@jmdeblois) June 10, 2021
A twitter user accused the authorities of focusing on the names but continues to do no action regarding the pandemic.
Eto na naman sila. Daming eme sa names, pero walang aksyon. Style bulok. https://t.co/WbvYkJUAuo
— doc gene (@genenisperos) June 10, 2021
On the other hand, someone found people’s reactions “funny.”
https://twitter.com/KuyaTalks/status/1403364809576435717
Someone also accused others of just trying to “ruin” Davao City because the elections are approaching.
https://twitter.com/AlfredoGenom/status/1403014755552354313
On June 7, 26 establishments in Davao City got placed on lockdown. The DOH documented 1,924 cases in the area in the past 10 days.
The majority of detected cases are from workplaces, establishments, and households–Dr. Marjorie Culas, assistant city health officer of Davao said.
“Among the most affected are business process outsourcing (BPO) or call centers. As of this time we have reported 11 BPOs that have cases.”
The area has around 54,000 active cases on June 10.
