Published April 13, 2021, 8:56 AM
Max K (not his real name) sat nervously as he waited for his Covid Test results. He works as a security guard in a Butuan realty corporation. He was one of the 14 close contacts of a previously confirmed case. He did not want to be tested. He claimed that he had not been in contact with the previous case for the last 6 months. He feared being quarantined as he is the family’s sole breadwinner. Max was not incentivized to self-report or self-quarantine. Max is a typical case.
Unfortunately for Max, he tested positive for covid. What happened next for Max can shed light to a mystery. You see, Butuan bested some of the Philippines more prosperous cities in terms of quarantine efforts. DOH data as of April 11, 2021 shows that Butuan was able to quarantine 77 out of every 100 positive covid cases in the last 30 days. (Capture5.jpg)