Rethink ‘militaristic, police – centered approach’ vs COVID-19, solon tells gov’t
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday called on the government to rethink its “heavy-handed approach” in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as confirmed cases breached the 50,000-mark.
“We need to remind the government to treat the COVID-19 crisis as a health crisis. The numbers are alarming and clearly, we are not winning. We cannot mass arrest our way out of this health problem,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“We need to rethink our militaristic and police-centered approach to the problem…We need an army of health professionals to combat COVID-19,” she added.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) logged the highest single-day increase of infections with 2,539 confirmed cases.
“This is an alarming update that needs serious attention from the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases). We need more health visibility and listen to the recommendations of health experts,” Hontiveros stressed.
“Patuloy na dumarami ang confirmed cases ng COVID-19 at dapat na dagdagan pa ang mga health professionals na may kakayahang tugunan ito. The COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a public health crisis that requires a comprehensive public health response, instead of the current heavy-handed approach,” she also said.
(The confirmed cases continue to rise and we need to increase the presence of health professionals who have the skills to address this health crisis).
Hontiveros further emphasized that increasing the number of medical personnel is essential in delivering a standard of health service in the country, especially in the wake of a public health crisis.
The hiring of more health workers can speed up tracing, testing and isolation, the senator stressed.
“There is no way around it: mass testing and aggressive contact tracing should be placed alongside any community quarantine for it to be effective,” she said.
“Aggressive contact tracing will help us determine our transmission rate, and will allow us to isolate and test more people,” Hontiveros added as she underscored the need to “ensure that every health worker is compensated justly and has access to personal protective equipment.”
Philippine health authorities have so far confirmed 50,359 COVID-19 cases in the country. Of the number 12,588 have recovered while 1,314 have died.
