WHO finds PH virus suppression, contact tracing ‘a little weak’

MANILA, Philippines — While the Philippines has improved its capability to test for the new coronavirus, as well as expand its treatment capacity, its contact tracing and suppressing of the spread of COVID-19 is “a little weak,’’ according to a World Health Organization (WHO) official.

Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the WHO representative in the country, cited the government for exerting efforts to improve its contact tracing and isolating COVID-19 patients as he noted that the current number of cases showed “continuing transmission” of the virus.

In a Zoom forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) on Tuesday, Abeyasinghe said that while the WHO was concerned over the increased number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, which had stood at more than 57,000 as of Wednesday, it was a “reflection of the capacity of the country to test more samples’” and was “actually a good thing.’’

Increasing positive cases

“What is worrying is that the proportion of positive cases is very slowly increasing,’’ he said. From a positivity rate of 6.5 percent two weeks ago, it was now 7.7 percent or 7.8 percent, he pointed out.

“This is worrying, as this shows that there is continuing transmission,’’ Abeyasinghe said, adding that this could be seen in increasing hospitalizations.

Metro Manila’s hospital occupancy jumped 70 percent on Saturday from 48 percent five days earlier due to the spike in cases.

Asked whether Metro Manila should be placed back on lockdown, Abeyasinghe said the surge in infections followed the easing of quarantine restrictions to reopen the economy.

“We are aware that the Philippines needs to open up its economy …. its’ about how we manage the pandemic, how we manage the rising number of cases while getting the economy open,” he said, stressing that all must do their part by following standards to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

More important than maintaining the ideal positivity rate of 5 percent, he said, “is that a country’s testing capacity is matched by its contact tracing and suppression capacity is matched by its capacity to manage patients.’’

Abeyasinghe said the government had used the long lockdown it imposed on Metro Manila, the epicenter of the outbreak, to expand its testing capability and treatment facilities. “But unfortunately,” he said, “the contact tracing and suppression capacities did not keep pace with what was happening on the testing and treatment care pathways … This aspect of the response was a little weak.”

He said the government had recognized this shortcoming and in the last few weeks there had been a “significant’’ effort at contract tracing and isolating people.

Steps in right direction

“We believe that these are steps in the right direction and comprehensive, coordinated strengthening of diagnostics, contact tracing and isolation, current timing of infected and exposed people will help bring this outbreak under control,’’ he added.

With government relaxing stringent measures, however, Abeyasinghe said there was “evidence of infection happening in workplace[s]’’ as people were returning to work.

Some workplaces were reportedly being closed down due to employees testing positive for the virus. This, he said, was a “reflection that transmission is now taking place in some workplaces’’ where safety precautions and recommendations have not been strictly followed.

Another transmission problem involves the return of migrant workers from countries with higher levels of transmission, Abeyasinghe said. These people should be tested and quarantined upon arrival, he said.

The government must test and quarantine stranded people who are trying to return to their home provinces after losing their jobs in urbanized cities that, in turn, also have high levels of transmission, he said.

“We continue to emphasize that you need a comprehensive approach. We cannot afford to do one and not the other,’’ Abeyasinghe said.

Targeted measures

The Department of Health is now looking at where the transmission is happening, he said, and this did not involve areas but “events and situations.’’

“The solution is not about locking down a whole city or a large geographic area because that ends in [impacting the economy]. So to minimize that, we need to be able to use that tracing mechanisms to identify where is the transmission happening, and have very targeted measures implemented,’’ Abeyasinghe said.