DAVAO CITY — Some 209 cockpit aficionados who attended theNew Matina Gallera derby from Northern Cotabato were given clearance to their community after finishing the 14-day mandatory quarantine health protocol.
The North Cotabato residents who went to New Matina Gallera scheduled on March 7, 10, and 12 underwent the 14-day incubation period.
People from all over the country went to the 7-cock derby in the hope of bringing home the pot amounting to P26-million, and, little did they realize it was the hotbed for the coronavirus pandemic in the region, instead, some of them brought home the virus.
In a report by the DXND radio in Kidapawan City, it quoted Board Member Philbert Malaluan, the provincial chair of the COVID-19 Provincial Inter-agency Task Force, saying the contact tracing was successful as it led to the identification of the derby attendees who in turn cooperated in the effort to stop the spread of the pandemic.
Malalauan was tasked by Governor Nancy Catamco to create and to lead a ‘ task force sabong’ contact tracer with a corresponding hotline number to ask the support of the community to report the persons they know who went to the derby.
Fifteen of the 209, 19 are still under observation and 15 of them are under strict home quarantine and strictly monitored by the Barangay health Emergency Response Team (BHERT) and at least three are confined in an isolation facility.
Those who completed their quarantine were issued health clearance but the contract tracing is still on-going.
The New Matina Gallera 7-cock derby on March 7 to 13 has become the ground zero for the coronavirus transmission in various areas in Mindanao, claiming at least six of the 18 death tolls, while other casualties were believed to be infected by some infected attendees back home.
