Vaccination vs measles, etc. still on despite lockdown – DOH

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) reminded parents on Saturday not to skip the essential vaccines for their young children even as the country grappled with the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Children under 5 years should not miss vaccinations against such diseases as measles, polio and diphtheria, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

“It is important that children are vaccinated to prevent them from getting sick. COVID-19 can easily infect anyone who is sick or has a compromised immune system,” she said at a press briefing.

Immunization schedule

“Parents should just follow the immunization schedule,” she said. “Our health centers remain open.”

Earlier, the United Nations Children’s Fund expressed concern that the COVID-19 outbreak had put around 2 million Filipino children in danger of not getting their vaccines.

There is still no vaccine against COVID-19, a severe respiratory ailment.

One way that the public could reduce their vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is to exercise, but not in gyms, which remain closed, Vergeire said.

Fitness enthusiasts would have to wait a little longer for their gyms to reopen even in areas with a moderate risk of infection from the coronavirus where general community quarantine (GCQ) would be implemented starting on May 1.

Vergeire said the DOH had not recommended to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases the reopening of gyms and fitness centers.

“This is because there’s the possibility that the infection would spread there,” Vergeire said at a press briefing.

The DOH is urging the public to follow a healthy lifestyle by exercising daily in their homes, she said.

“There are a number of workouts and exercises that can be done at home,” she said.

Exercising is one of the DOH’s minimum health recommendations for those in areas that will shift to GCQ, which is less restrictive than the enhanced community quarantine that will continue in Metro Manila and other high-risk areas until May 15.

Regular exercises in parks

Some residents have stopped their regular exercises in parks or jogs around their communities for fear that the police would apprehend them for violating quarantine rules.

Recently, officers barged into a condominium in Taguig City and scolded residents who were out to get some sun.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country had risen to 7,294, as of Saturday, with 102 new infections.

There are now 792 patients who have recovered with the addition of 30 more.

The number of fatalities rose to 494 with the death of 17 patients.

Health-care workers accounted for 15 percent of the confirmed cases with 1,101 medical front-liners positive for SARS-CoV-2. Among them are 434 doctors, 400 nurses, 55 nursing assistants, 32 medical technologists and 21 radiologic technologists.

The DOH reported that 20 doctors and six nurses had died of COVID-19.