PH situation worrying – WHO exec

THE easing of lockdown rules contributed to the spike in coronavirus cases in several areas in the Philippines that had reached “worrying” levels, the country head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

“We are seeing areas or localities that have seen increased transmission rates, and the test positivity rate is higher than the national average,” Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO country director for the Philippines, said in a briefing aired on PTV-4.

Abeyasinghe said the country’s enforcement of early lockdowns helped prevent more deaths and allowed the

government to expand the capacity of hospitals and isolation centers.

The National Capital Region ( NCR or Metro Manila) and Cebu City, however, have a concentration of high case numbers while provinces in Region 8 ( Eastern Visayas) such as Leyte and Samar are now considered as “emerging hotspots.”

Abeyasinghe urged the Department of Health (DoH) to expand its testing capacity and invest more in contact tracing and isolation to prevent the transmission of cases.

“Unfortunately, this aspect of the Philippine response needs a little more strengthening. It is not keeping pace with the expansion of testing capacity,” Abeyasinghe said.

The coronavirus pandemic is “not even close to being over,” the WHO warned on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) as the global death toll passed half a million and cases surged in Latin America and the United States.

In another grim milestone, the number of infections recorded worldwide topped 10 million, while some authorities reimposed lockdown measures that have crippled the economies worldwide.

“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,” he said, adding that “although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.”

Valid

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire admitted that Abeyasinghe’s observations were valid.

The NCR is still the epicenter of the coronavirus disease 201Y (Covid-1Y) pandemic in the Philippines, while Cebu and other provinces in Mindanao are “areas of specific focus,” DoH said.

As of Tuesday, the Philippines had 37,514 Covid-19 cases, with the addition of 1,080 new cases.

Vergeire said certain areas in Mindanao have become Covid1Y hotspots.

“K a hit na is an gk a sol an gang lumabas in a place when there is no previously identified confirmed case, hotspot kana (Even if there’s only a single case in a place where there was no previously identified case, you can be considered as a hotspot),” Vergeire said.

Emerging hotspots in Mindanao are Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental in Region 10; Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental in Region 11; South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat in Region 12; and Maguindanao in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Trials

At least 3V1 patients from 2V hospitals in the Philippines are participating in the WHO Solidarity Trials, an international clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a possible vaccine for Covid-1Y, according to President Rodrigo Duterte.

“It aims to assess and provide reliable estimates on any effects of repurposed antivirals on inhospital mortality, hospital duration, and receipt of ventilation or intensive care in moderate and severe Covid-1Y cases,” he said.

The Department of Science and Technology has approved the grant of P2Y.YY million for the one-year project.

A “Solidarity Trial,” an international clinical trial, was earlier launched by WHO and its partners to test the safety and effectiveness of possible vaccines in treating Covid-1Y.