PHOYO/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases is monitoring Metro Manila and 22 other areas where COVID-19 growth rates are high, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Wednesday.
READ: 7 provinces post high COVID-19 growth rate; declining in Metro Manila — OCTA
According to Nograles, also the IATF co-chair, the areas being monitored are the following:
-Metro Manila
-Calabarzon
-Central Luzon
-Ilocos Region
-Cordillera Administrative Region
-Baguio City
-Cebu City
-Cebu Province
-Lapu-lapu City
-Mandaue City
-Iloilo Province
-Iloilo City
-Bacolod City
-Cagayan de Oro City
-Davao City
-General Santos City
-Ormoc City
-Naga City
-Dagupan City
-Western Samar
-Tacloban City
-Biliran
-Zamboanga del Sur
Nograles said they are in talks with the regional IATFs and local government units (LGUs) to assess the situation.
“First of all, we have very close coordination with the regions ‘no. So, mayroon tayong mga (we have) regional IATFs and we are constantly monitoring the numbers there per region and we have, you know, close coordination with the LGUs as well, the governors, the mayors,” Nograles, the acting presidential spokesperson, said on CNN Philippines’ The Source.
“So, what we’re seeing now is while cases in [the National Capital Region] or Metro Manila, and in fact, some areas in Region 4A and Region 3 are slowing down in terms of the growth of COVID-19, the growth rate I mean, we’re seeing higher growth rates naman (however) in those areas that I just mentioned,” he pointed out.
To address this, Nograles said that the regional authorities must increase their bed capacities, ensure sufficient isolation facilities, and beef up telemedicine and teleconsultation services, among other measures.
READ: Gov’t to ramp up RT-PCR testing, vaccinations, bed capacities
The country on Tuesday logged 17,677 new COVID-19 cases, driving the overall case count to 3,459,646.
READ: PH reports 17,677 new COVID-19 cases