MORE PEOPLE IN NEED OF AID Jeepney drivers plying the Navotas-Divisoria route before the March 16 lockdown show signs asking for assistance. According to them, they were excluded from the government’s cash subsidy program, of which a second tranche is due to be released. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Malacañang and the Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday apologized to the nation for the confusion caused by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s statement on Wednesday that the Philippines was already experiencing the second wave of new coronavirus infections.
The apologies came after Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon told a radio interview that inaccurate data from the DOH could lead to wrong decisions in the efforts to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, which causes the severe respiratory disease COVID-19, and erode the people’s confidence in the government.
Drilon raised the warning as he and several senators challenged Duque’s statement on Wednesday that the Philippines was already experiencing the second wave of coronavirus infections. They pointed out that not enough testing had been done to say that the country had significantly reduced the number of new cases.
Heightening tension
Experiencing the second wave implies that the first wave has passed and that the Philippines has been able to manage the spread of the virus.
Duque’s assertion “serves no purpose except to heighten the tension,” Drilon said.
Malacañang also disputed Duque’s claim, and apologized for the confusion it had caused.
“We stand by the President,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Thursday. “We must take steps to prevent a second wave. We apologize if you were alarmed.”
The DOH also apologized and confirmed that the current outbreak in the country was only the first wave.
“We apologize for the confusion that this has caused,” said Dr. Beverly Ho, the DOH health promotions and communications service director.
Ho explained that the first wave began when the country started reporting cases of local community transmission involving people who had no history of travel or exposure to confirmed coronavirus cases.
“We are still in this wave,” she said.
On Thursday, the DOH reported 213 new coronavirus infections, bringing the national total to 13,434. It said 68 more patients had recovered, raising the total number of survivors to 3,000. But the death toll increased to 846, with the deaths of four more patients.
A big factor in suppressing the spread of the coronavirus, Drilon said, is the people’s confidence in the rules laid down by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary government body overseeing the Duterte administration’s response to the outbreak.
“If there is no agreement on the basic data, it affects their credibility,” Drilon said in a radio interview.
“People’s cooperation is needed in social distancing, but if you see that the data is incorrect and there are disagreements on the standards, the people will really lose trust in the ability of the government to contain this virus,” he added.
‘Testing is inadequate’
Debates on whether the country should loosen restrictions on movement and business to restart the economy could be resolved with accurate data on how many people are infected with the virus and their locations, he said.
“We will keep on imposing a lockdown if we do not know [the] basic data,” he said.
“If we have the correct data, we can have a more rational decision. The problem is, the DOH does not have the data because their testing is inadequate,” he added.
Asked if Duque should resign, Drilon said that if the health secretary would not step down, “he should at least pray.”
Not enough testing
Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the country had still not done enough testing to say it had been able to manage the contagion.“How can you do that when you don’t have enough results? How can you do that when you don’t test enough?” Pangilinan said in a television interview.
Without the testing of a significant portion of the population, the country cannot claim that it has effectively manage the spread of the disease, he said.
The government aims to test 2 percent of the population, but it has so far tested 0.2 percent. Sen. Richard Gordon said the country was “still gaining momentum” and that he hoped it could pass the first wave.
But Gordon also said Duque should not be tarred for his pronouncement.
He said he considered Duque’s statement “premature,” but added that the health chief might be trying to put a brave face on the response as he faced a lot of pressure.
The focus should be on increasing the testing, he said.
“But it doesn’t matter whether first wave or second wave. I expect the worst is still to come. While we can say nice things about everybody, we can see that we are only testing .2 percent of the population, not even 1 percent,” Gordon said in a television interview.
“We have to cooperate with everyone and conduct the tests,” he added.
‘Not even a ripple’
Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri disputed Duque’s statement, saying it had caused panic.
Zubiri said the three Chinese from Wuhan who visited the Philippines in January and tested positive for the new coronavirus could not be considered a first wave as they were “not even a ripple.”
Sen. Joel Villanueva said he was worried about the government’s handling of the outbreak “if the person in charge is more confused than the rest of the country.”
The DOH is the lead agency in the coronavirus interagency task force.
On Wednesday, Duque, the DOH chief, said that epidemiologically speaking, the first wave occurred in late January when the three Chinese visitors were found positive for the coronavirus.
His statement was apparently based on the claim made earlier this month by epidemiologist John Wong that the three Chinese visitors’ cases were the first wave.
Wong said the Chinese cases, which were reported in late January, were followed by a quiet period in February, then by the second wave in March with the reports of local transmission, which he also called the “first major wave.”
He warned that prematurely lifting quarantine restrictions could lead to a “third wave” of infections.
Quoting information from the World Health Organization (WHO), Duque also said asymptomatic coronavirus patients could not infect other people.
Another wrong claim
Sen. Nancy Binay on Thursday said she was worried about that statement by Duque, citing information on the WHO website about the possibility that people without symptoms could still transmit the virus.
The Citizens Urgent Response to End COVID-19 slammed Duque’s statement about the second wave, saying it implied that health authorities had been able to contain the first surge of infections.
“This is truly self-serving and aims to absolve Duque, the DOH and the Duterte government [of] their delayed and inadequate response to the pandemic,” the group said in a statement. —JULIE M. AURELIO, TINA G. SANTOS AND PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU