COVID-19 pandemic in Bangsamoro

The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangsamoro is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus reached the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on March 11, 2020, when the first case of the disease was confirmed in Lanao del Sur. Cases has been confirmed in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and the independent city of Cotabato.

COVID-19 pandemic in Bangsamoro
Confirmed cases in Bangsamoro by locality (as of July 4)[note 1]
  100–499 confirmed
  10–99 confirmed
  1–9 confirmed
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationBangsamoro
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
Index caseLanao del Sur
Arrival dateMarch 11, 2020
(5 months and 6 days)
Confirmed cases532–581[lower-alpha 1]
Recovered320–355[lower-alpha 2]
Deaths
6
Government website
covid19.bangsamoro.gov.ph

Cotabato City's cases has been listed under Soccsksargen by the national Department of Health since the city has not yet formally turned over to the Bangsamoro regional government.[1]

Timeline

The first overall COVID-19 case in Mindanao is a resident of Lanao del Sur who went home from San Juan, Metro Manila. The case was that of a 54-year-old man who was admitted at the Adventist Medical Center in his home province and was referred to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center on March 8, a health facility outside the region in Cagayan de Oro after he is suspected to have COVID-19. The case was confirmed on March 11. The man had no known travel history abroad and was suspected to have contracted the disease while he was in Metro Manila.[2] The patient died on March 13 becoming the first COVID-19 death outside Metro Manila.[3] The province later reported additional cases.

From March 26 to April 1, three cases were confirmed in Cotabato City which is linked to a cockfighting derby in Matina, Davao City.[4] The first case in Maguindanao which was confirmed on April 6 is also linked to the Matina cluster.[5] The Matina cluster accounts for at least 40 other confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mindanao as of April 22.[4]

A leaked advisory from the Bangsamoro regional government dated April 1, listed Lanao del Sur and Marawi as one of the areas in the whole country to "with local transmission/under enhanced community quarantine". The region's Ministry of Health later issued a clarification that the document is still unofficial and not final and dispelled rumors arising from the leak that the two localities have already have local transmission of COVID-19.[6]

No additional cases in the region, not accounting for Cotabato City, were reported after the first case in Maguindanao was confirmed.[7] The region recorded an additional case on April 18 bringing the total COVID-19 cases in the region excluding Cotabato City to nine cases.[8]

Sulu is the first among the three island provinces of Bangsamoro to confirm a COVID-19 case. The province confirmed its first case on May 1, that of a 63-year-old male in Indanan who died on April 19.[9] Basilan recorded its first case on May 27, when a Tipo-Tipo resident tested positive for COVID-19 who was referred to a hospital in Zamboanga City.[10] Tawi Tawi recorded its first case on July 5, that of a 44 year old police officer from Bongao. He is a locally stranded individual who returned to the province from Quezon City by transiting through Zamboanga City and Basilan.[11]

Response
Logo of the Bangsamoro IATF on COVID-19.
BARMM Minister of Health Saffrulah Dipatuan speaks on March 31, 2020 on plans to convert hospitals in BARMM into COVID-19 dedicated health facilities.
Medical supplies being delivered to Sulu by the Philippine Navy.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) of the Philippine national government in April 2020, has appointed Bangsamoro Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim to lead the regional inter-agency task group for Bangsamoro.[12] The Bangsamoro regional government has allotted at least ₱1.9 billion for its response against the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.[13]

In March 2020, Lanao del Sur and Marawi were placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).[14] Tawi Tawi[15] and Cotabato City[16] were likewise placed under ECQ by April 2020. The whole of Bangsamoro transitioned to a general community quarantine on May 1 with request to extend ECQ imposition in Lanao del Sur and Marawi rejected by the national IATF-IED.[17]

Hospital equipment

There were only three ventilators in the whole Bangsamoro region as of April 2020, all of which are used by the Maguindanao Provincial Hospital. Through the United Nations Development Programme an additional of at least 15 ventilators are being installed in health facilities across the region.[18]

As of early June 2020, the region already has 19 mechanical ventilators.[19]

Testing and quarantine facilities

The Cotabato Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City has a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing facility which test suspected COVID-19 cases in the Bangsamoro and Soccsksargen regions.[19] The Bangsamoro regional government has provided ₱14 million aid to the hospital to fund the upgrade of its laboratory and training of its staff.[20] The hospital received accreditation to conduct test in May 2020.[21]

The Bangsamoro region's Ministry of Health and Ministry of Public Works has constructed a 100-bed capacity COVID-19 isolation facility near the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.[22] Another facility is being set up in Datu Blah Sinsuat Hospital[19]

The capacity of the region's isolation facilities across all of its five provinces is 4,360 beds.[19]

Parliament sessions

When the Bangsamoro Parliament resumed its session on June 16, 2020, some of its members participated via video conferencing and those who were physically present wore masks and observed social distancing by seating two seats apart from each other.[23]

Religious sector

Muslim worship in the region has been affected by the pandemic. The Regional Darul Ifta' of Bangsamoro has suspended all congregational prayers in the Bangsamoro region from March 19 to April 10, 2020.[24] The Islamic advisory body has also issued a fatwa further suspending congregational prayers in mosques during the whole Ramadan period and has advised Muslims to hold Taraweeh prayers in their residences.[25] The Darul Ifta' released another advisory clarifying that congregational prayers are still suspended even as the whole Bangsamoro region was placed under general community quarantine starting May 1.[26] The suspension on congregational prayers were provisionally lifted from June 1 to 15, provided that mosques will be used 50 percent of its capacity at most per prayer session.[27]

Notes
  1. Breakdown of confirmed cases is according to the COVID-19 Case Tracker of the Department of Health. Includes cases of Cotabato City which are accounted for by the Department of Health's Soccsksargen field office and the Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province which is tracked by the Bangsamoro IATF.
  1. 49 cases in Cotabato City
  2. 35 recoveries in Cotabato City
gollark: The common consensus is kind of bad.
gollark: (you have to pick the opinions to put on it of course)
gollark: https://osmarks.net/stuff/political_opinion_calendar.html
gollark: So instead of being bad™ and picking your political opinions based on either your social environment or "actual underlying beliefs", you can just read your opinion for the day off the calendar.
gollark: I also developed a political opinion calendar recently.

References
  1. Arguillas, Carolyn (April 4, 2020). "Mindanao breaches 100-mark in COVID-19 cases; Davao region tops with 69". MindaNews. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  2. Timonera, Bobby (March 12, 2020). "Mindanao's first COVID-19 case went home to Lanao Sur before admission in Iligan hospital and later CDO". MindaNews. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  3. Butardo, Maria Cecilia (March 17, 2020). "COVID-19 positive patient dies in Lanao del Sur". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  4. Arguillas, Carolyn (April 22, 2020). "At least 43 COVID-19 cases in Mindanao traced to Davao's 6-cock derby". MindaNews. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  5. "Maguindanao confirms first COVID-19 case". ABS-CBN News. April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  6. Biong, Ian (April 2, 2020). "Bangsamoro MOH clarifies leaked advisory: No local transmission in Lanao del Sur, Marawi". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  7. Saiden, Albashir (April 15, 2020). "No new Covid-19 cases in BARMM for more than a week". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  8. Calayag, Keith (April 19, 2020). "BARMM tallies 9 COVID-19 cases". The Daily Tribune. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  9. "Sulu reports first COVID-19 case". CNN Philippines. May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  10. "Basilan province confirms first COVID-19 case". CNN Philippines. May 27, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  11. https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2020/07/tawi-tawi-records-1st-covid-19-case/
  12. Valente, Catherine (April 14, 2020). "IATF names heads of Covid-19 regional task groups". Manila Times. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  13. "BARMM discloses breakdown of P1.9-billion released funds for Covid-19 crisis". BARMM Bureau of Public Information. May 8, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  14. Ermac, Bonita (March 20, 2020). "Lanao del Sur, Marawi City placed under enhanced community quarantine". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  15. "Situational Report No.8 of the National Task Force (NTF) for COVID-19" (PDF). National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  16. "Cotabato City LGU implements new enhanced quarantine, worker passes". Philippine Information Agency. April 23, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  17. Fonbuena, Carmela (May 3, 2020). "Gov't task force rejects ECQ requests of several provinces". Rappler. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  18. Idrus, Pizaro Gozali; Rufinaldo, Rhany Chairunissa (April 16, 2020). "Philippines: No new COVID-19 cases in Bangsamoro region". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  19. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1104993
  20. Maulana, Nash (April 15, 2020). "Murad signs P14M fund transfer in aid of CRMC upgrade". Manila Standard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  21. "CRMC gets accreditation as first Covid-19 testing lab in BARMM". Philippine News Agency. May 21, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  22. "Barmm builds 100-bed capacity Covid-19 facility". Sun Star Zamboanga. April 22, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  23. "Bangsamoro gov't opens 2nd regular session under 'new normal'". MindaNews. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  24. Saiden, Albashir (March 20, 2020). "BARMM suspends all congregational prayers due to Covid-19". pna.gov.ph. Philippine News Agency. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  25. Sarmiento, Bong (April 21, 2020). "Bangsamoro Region gears up for Ramadan". MindaNews. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  26. Fernandez, Edwin (May 5, 2020). "Suspension of Ramadan mass assembly in BARMM stays amid GCQ". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  27. Valdez, Warren Elijah (June 1, 2020). "Darul-Ifta' lifts ban on mass prayers at mosques". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.