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MANILA, Philippines — All trial courts have been ordered to scale down their on-site workforce to 50 to 75 percent this week amid the continued increase in COVID-19 cases.
In a circular dated July 4, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), which is under the Supreme Court, said each “branch or judicial office” will maintain that “skeleton workforce,” particularly in areas under alert levels 1 and 2, from July 5 to 8.
The directive, however, is still “subject to the discretion or determination of the concerned executive judge, presiding judge, and/or acting/assisting judge,” OCA said.
Judges are also allowed to conduct remote, online hearings upon notifying the court administrator.
As for Monday, July 11, OCA said that “unless otherwise subsequently directed, the required workforce and in-person or face-to-face hearings… will again be observed and complied with… until further orders of the Court.”
Upward trend
The country’s caseload remained on an upward trend as active infections breached the 10,000 mark on Monday, according to the latest data from the Department of Health (DOH).
Active cases were at 10,094, the highest since April 27 when the department reported 10,576 individuals infected with the coronavirus.
Daily cases numbered 1,188 on Monday, the fifth straight day above the 1,000 level. But this was slightly down from Sunday’s 1,323 new cases.
This brought the country’s total cases to 3,709,386.
The national positivity rate stood at 6.8 percent on Sunday. Last week it was 6 percent, the first time the positivity rate went past the World Health Organization’s benchmark of 5 percent.
Five regions registered positivity rates above that standard: Metro Manila (9.3 percent), Calabarzon (8.4 percent), Western Visayas (7.1 percent), Mimaropa (6.4 percent) and the Cordillera Administrative Region (5.5 percent).
The benchmark should be sustained for 14 days before the COVID-19 situation in a given area may be deemed under control.
‘Mini surge’
For infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana, the latest figures indicated a “mini surge.”
“I think, at this point, we are seeing an increase in cases, [so] probably it’s not a good time to go down on our restrictions,” Salvana, a member of the technical advisory group of the DOH, said at the Laging Handa briefing.
He emphasized the need to continue observing such protocols as the mandatory wearing of face masks and physical distancing, especially amid the threat of new Omicron subvariants in the country.
“Let’s continue using our masks. Second, let’s really push at least your first booster—very, very important,” he said.
While he noted the country’s high vaccination rate with regards to the primary doses, Salvana said there were still millions of Filipinos who had yet to get their booster shots.
According to the DOH case bulletin this week, 70.8 million have been inoculated with the primary doses, but only 15.1 million have been administered with booster doses.
‘Not that big’
The government has yet to carry out a full rollout of the second booster shot, which so far has covered front-line workers, senior citizens and people with comorbidities.
But minors between 12 and 17 may soon avail themselves of the first booster shot, the DOH announced on Tuesday.
Salvana said there was still no cause for worry, because the hospital utilization rate as well as the number of fatalities and of severe and critical cases remained low.
Bed occupancy was at 19.6 percent of the country’s total 29,177 beds, while the 497 severe and critical admissions recorded this week were lower than 648 last week.
But fatalities recorded this week were at 74, compared to zero in the period of June 20 until last Sunday.
“So even though the number of cases increased by 60 percent compared to last week, the increase in severe cases is not that big,” Salvana said.
He added that even if daily cases rise to 2,000 to 5,000, “we don’t expect it to overwhelm the healthcare system.”
—WITH A REPORT FROM KATHLEEN DE VILLA
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