Last May 19, 2021, Cagayan de Oro logged 140 new covid positives, according to the Covid Statistics of the Department of Health. The Octa Research group saw a significant increase in Covid-19 cases in our city with an average of 94 new daily cases from May 12 to 18. In a Facebook Live Broadcast on the same day, Mayor Oscar Moreno, again repeated his call for Kagay-anons to cooperate in slowing down the positivity rate of the virus through cooperation. Several Kagay-anons also posted on their Facebook timelines reminders for their friends to refrain from unnecessary gatherings & outings.
Here in Ororama Cogon & Carmen, we strictly implement the wearing of face shields, face masks and adherence to social distancing for both Ororama Shoppers and Ororama staff.
There are already numerous studies confirming the importance of wearing face masks in fighting covid. One study found that wearing of face masks lowers per capita mortality from Covid-19. This means that when people wear masks, there are lesser deaths within the populace because of this virus.
The wearing of face masks is important because we can't tell who is infected, according to infectious disease specialist, Peter Chin-Hong, MD. It is a common scenario in our city that someone got infected with covid through people they never thought was infected. Asymptomatic covid-19 carriers do not exhibit common infection symptoms like coughing and fever and deceivingly appear to be in good health.
A simulation showed that wearing of masks is a sound alternative to a continued lockdown scenario. The same study supports previous studies suggesting that a majority of the populace must wear masks to provide efficient protection from the flu virus and that masking may be effective in reducing the spread of a pandemic.
But wearing just a face mask mask may not sufficiently protect an individual against covid because a face mask does not protect your eyes from exposure to viral particles. Hence, both a face mask and face shield is necessary to be correctly worn at all times when we are outside of our homes or in the presence of other people or even non-household family members. Non-household family members refer to relatives who do not live with you.
As we all continue to live under the shadow of Covid-19, let us keep each other safe by adhering to the proper wearing of face masks and face shields and remember to strictly follow social distancing and other health protocols designed to reduce virus transmission or infection.
You can buy face masks & face shields and other Anti-Covid Essentials from Ororama Cogon and Carmen or online through the Ororama App, ororama.store, Ororama Shopee and Ororama Lazada.