Mayor Sara Z. Duterte has renewed her call to Dabawenyos to observe the minimum health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) after a patient contracted the virus at a wedding party.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Duterte slammed members of prominent families here after holding a grand wedding celebration recently, where a guest later tested positive for Covid-19.

Duterte said she has constantly reminded wedding organizers that holding big events would be very risky.

She earlier ordered a period of mourning and vigilance from April 17 until December 31 amid the pandemic.

“I wanted to tell them, ‘I told you so,’ but I’d rather not. The party happened, and guess what? Someone tested positive and now we have to do this contact tracing when it could have been avoided,” Duterte said.

She said local health authorities were tracing the close contacts of the infected person and the City Legal Office was already looking into possible legal actions against them.

“Let us show empathy to people who battled Covid-19, particularly our front-liners or our health care workers who are going through a difficult battle every day,” Duterte said.

Observing the health protocols – staying home, wearing face masks, practicing social distancing, and frequent hand washing – protects oneself and others, including health workers, from contracting the disease.

“The health workers put their lives on the line, while other people still refuse to follow simple health protocols. Every time you violate the health protocol, you kill a person,” she said.

As of August 6, the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, which caters to coronavirus patients, has recorded 131 infected workers, three of whom have died. (PNA)