DOH-7: Asymptomatic COVID-19 cases are “super virus spreaders”

Published May 8, 2020, 12:37 PM

CEBU CITY — The Department of Health (DOH-7) in Central Visayas has reported that based on the latest figures from the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU), about 90 percent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive cases in Cebu City were asymptomatic, and were considered “super virus spreaders”.

These are people, who tested positive for COVID-19 but did not experience influenza-like illness (ILI) or severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), and were only tested as a result of the contact tracing following the ILI-SARI Surveillance protocol.

DOH-7 records also showed that only 10 percent of the positive cases in Cebu City were symptomatic, or those with flu-like symptoms (ILI and SARI).

The testing results from persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), as well as jail guards at the Cebu City Jail under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), showed the same scenario.

BJMP testing recorded 85 percent of the inmates tested through Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) Testing Kits were asymptomatic, while only 15 percent of them were symptomatic.

According to DOH-7, these figures prove that most of the people who tested positive for the virus did not know that they were infected by it, but were transmitting the virus to their household members and communities.

Thus, DOH-7 said, they could be considered the “super-spreaders” since they tend to continue with their regular daily activities during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) without knowing that they have the disease, and that they have been contaminating everyone they were in contact with.

These “super-spreaders” can go to market places, eat with their families at home, and walk around their neighborhoods if they have the quarantine pass.

The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) noted these observations and analysis and came up with “Project Balik Buhay” (PBB) that aims to identify the COVID-19 cases in the cities of Cebu, Lapulapu and Mandaue at the community level to effectively cohort individuals to impede the further transmission of the virus.

OPAV secretary Michael Dino believed that mass testing to be of utmost importance in order to identify these asymptomatic patients at the sitio level for proper management to control the accelerated spread of the virus.

Dino, in coordination with DOH, local government units of the three cities and the private/business sectors have agreed to adopt the Rapid Antibody Testing, being the faster and more cost-effective form of testing that is appropriate for the strategic mass testing as a conduit to PCR Testing.

The tests started on May 6 and will last until May 20 involving some 46,896 individuals or 10 percent of the total number of households per barangay of the three cities, based on the data of each City Health Department.

Department of Health (DOH-7) Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas explained that the strategic testing will be done in 10 days’ time or will last up until May 20, and by then, “we will now have the scientific data upon which we can anchor our decision to either continue with our ECQ or transition to GCQ.”

Bernadas said that with the continuous testing, the tagging of zones will be done. DOH-7 is yet to determine the classification whether it is under the Red Zone (high cases), Orange Zone (moderate cases), or Green Zone (zero cases).

“Project Balik Buhay” employs a two-pronged strategy to conduct evaluation and testing at the barangay level to be undertaken by the LGUs and employee testing to be done by different companies as a condition for going back to work.

The results of both tests and the data shared by all will be the scientific basis for the various local government units in Cebu to slowly lift or extend the restrictions, if necessary, and eventually start the new normal.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/08/doh-7-asymptomatic-covid-19-cases-are-super-virus-spreaders/