OCTA Research warns gov’t vs ‘superspreader events’ due to new COVID-19 policies

MANILA, Philippines — The OCTA Research group on Wednesday urged the national government to rethink its decision to allow persons aged 15 to 65 as well as conducting conferences and seminars in general community quarantine (GCQ) areas as these may trigger another wave of COVID-19 infections.

“We understand the logic of economic promotion in these directives but given the reality of significant outbreaks still in many GCQ areas, we believe that at this time, these directives are risky and opposed to good/sensible pandemic management,” the OCTA research group said in its latest report.

The  Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) recently expanded the age group of persons who are allowed to go out of their homes to 15 to 65 years old.

Under the previous IATF-MEID policy, those aged below 21 to above 60 years old are required to stay home with the exception of work and accessing necessities.

While it supports the  gradual reopening of the economy, the group also urged the government to rethink its decisions that “may increase the chances of dangerous superspreader events.”

“We should be especially cautious of [the] impact of these directives as we approach the Christmas holidays,” the OCTA Research group said.

“In this regard, we urge the national government to rethink its directives such as allowing conferences and seminars to resume in GCQ areas as these events could facilitate social mixing and viral transmission,” the group added.

To recall, IATF-MEID has allowed to conduct workshops, trainings, seminars and the like at 30 percent venue capacity in GCQ areas.

However, social events such as birthdays and Christmas parties are not yet covered by the directive, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a separate statement.

OCTA Research is an independent interdisciplinary group composed of scientists mostly from the University of the Philippines with some contributors from the University of Santo Tomas and Providence College in the United States.

As of Tuesday, the Philippines’ COVID-19 tally is at 442,785, with 408,790 recoveries and 8,670 deaths.

EDV