India-like COVID surge in PH ‘big possibility’ if rules defied, response not boosted – Duque

FILE PHOTO: Health Sec. Francisco Duque III. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — There’s a “big possibility” that the Philippines could face a surge in COVID-19 cases similar to what is happening in India if the public does not follow minimum health standards and if the pandemic response of the government is not intensified, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

“Kapag hindi tayo sumunod doon sa ating minimum public health standard [and] if we do not intensify our COVID-19 pandemic response, like what has happened in India and also in some other countries where the second or third waves are being experienced, that’s a big possibility,” Duque said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel on Friday.

He was asked regarding concerns of some medical experts that the Philippines could face an “India-like” surge, as the total number of infections in the country breached one million this week.

India has been seeing aggressive virus resurgence amid the discovery of the so-called double-mutant SARS-CoV-2 variant in the South Asian nation.

“This is a lesson we all have to learn from what’s happening in other countries, we cannot dig our heads into the sand and make it appear that we’re doing OK all the time. There’s always ways of doing things better. It’s very dynamic, every day you have to read, every day you have to watch out for what’s happening,” Duque went on.

“What are the best practices, what are the practices that are worth avoiding or making sure we avoid such measures that don’t work,” he added.

Duque further stressed that the fight against the pandemic should be coupled with solidarity among the public and the national government.

“At the end of the day, we just have to work together and the whole world is in a crisis. Everybody is really reeling from this pandemic. But we must stand in solidarity with each other in this fight against the pandemic. The war against COVID is really on the shoulders of every person so it cannot just be the work of the national government, local government, private sector, etcetera,” he added.

“But we’re not helpless. We are not without the power to fight this. Simple interventions e. Face masks, face shields, physical distancing, proper ventilation, avoidance of people in super spreader events,” he also said.

On Friday, the Philippines logged 8,276 additional infections, pushing the country’s COVID-19 tally to 1,028,738.

Of this number, 69,354 are active cases while 942,239 have recovered. The death toll stands at 17,145.

KGA