Spike in cases preventable if public sticks to rules – DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) reiterated on Wednesday that while COVID-19 cases may rise as the economy slowly reopens, spikes in the number of new infections can be prevented if the public would do its part in observing the health measures put in place to control the spread of the new coronavirus.

After the research group OCTA warned that Metro Manila may see an increase in cases due to the easing of restrictions on public transportation, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire pointed out that the DOH has always been saying that increases are to be expected with the reopening of certain sectors of society and the economy.

But what is important, she said, is that the country is able to manage the risk that comes along with it.

Can’t remain on lockdown

“The virus will stay here for long. We do not see it going away soon. At the same time, we cannot remain [on] lockdown forever. We cannot remain to be paralyzed [by] fear that’s why we’re slowly lifting restrictions,” Vergeire said.

In doing that, the DOH, she said, expects everyone to “change their behavior and comply with the minimum health standards,” such as wearing masks, frequent hand-washing, practicing cough etiquette, and observing physical distancing.

“If only the population will implement and comply with the minimum health standards, the infection will not be as transmissible as how it was before,” Vergeire said.

In its Oct. 26 report, the OCTA research group warned that the steady increase in the use of public transportation in Metro Manila would “trigger an increase in new COVID-19 cases in the [metropolis] in the next two weeks.”

Earlier, the Department of Transportation eased physical distancing measures on trains by implementing the one-seat-apart rule to help increase passenger capacity.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board also allowed more jeepneys to ply their routes.

Motorcycle taxis will also soon be allowed to return to the streets to provide commuters another transport option.

Steady decline in Metro

DOH data show that though Metro Manila still accounts for most of the new cases each week, it has seen a steady decline in new infections over the last three weeks.

Between Oct. 4 and 10, Metro Manila recorded 6,218 new cases. New infections dropped to 5,605 from Oct. 11 to 17 to 3,950 from Oct. 18 to 24.

The decline in reported cases, however, coincided with the Philippine Red Cross’ (PRC) decision on Oct. 15 to halt testing pending Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) settlement of its P1.1-billion debt.

According to OCTA, the humanitarian organization accounts for a third of all tests conducted in Metro Manila, which means that if its tests are included, average daily new cases in Metro Manila from Oct. 11 is estimated to increase by at least 200.

This is why the group recommended that the impasse between the PRC and PhilHealth be immediately resolved since without the former’s input, “public health authorities and pandemic management teams are made blind because of less accurate information.”

“Accurate testing information and increased testing capacity are crucial to managing the pandemic. It is against this backdrop that the government ensures that the PRC resume testing as soon as possible,” it said.

New infections

On Wednesday, the DOH recorded 2,053 additional infections, pushing the overall number of cases to 375,180. Caloocan City reported the most number of infections, 108, followed by Quezon City (103), and the provinces of Negros Occidental (97), Benguet (93) and Rizal (85).

An additional 540 patients recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 329,111. The death toll, however, rose to 7,114 as 61 more patients succumbed to the severe respiratory disease.

The recoveries and deaths left the country with 38,955 active cases, of which 83 percent are mild, 11.1 percent asymptomatic, 2.2 percent severe, and 3.8 percent critical.

In its report on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that though the Philippines has seen its new cases decrease, it still accounted for around “50 percent of the total number of cases and 75 percent of the total number of deaths reported in the [Western Pacific] region in the last seven days.”

Of the 27,197 new cases and 438 new deaths reported last week by the 27 member states in the region, the Philippines accounted for 13,481 cases and 331 deaths.

The WHO noted though that “relative to the country’s population, new cases (123) and new deaths (3) per 1 million population remain low compared to other countries in the region.”