UP group lists restrictions for old folk, worksites after ECQ lifting
FILIPINOS with comorbidities and the elderly should still stay home months after the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted to ensure they do not fall victim to the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19), according to researchers from the University of the Philippines.
In a discussion paper titled,“a Sectoral
View of Lifting the Lockdown and the Use of Sample-based Random Testing,” professors led by Orville Jose C. Solon of the UP School of Economics said only a partial lifting of the ECQ should be imposed and various conditions based on the industry a worker belongs to.
Based on their recommendations, Solon and the other professors said working remotely should be continued as well as efforts to implement social distancing and proper hygiene, long after the ECQ is lifted.
“We assume that, in the best case, a stable long-term scenario may come about only 18 months from now when a vaccine is expected to be available that can protect the population in the same way the flu vaccine is regularly administered,” Solon and other researchers said.
“Until then, intermittent but limited lockdowns will remain a policy tool for local and national public health authorities to wield when necessary,” they added.
Based on the paper, the Philippine work force can be lumped into four clusters according to how essential they are to sustaining the economy in the next 18 months or until a vaccine is developed and according to extent of client contact.
Based on this, there would be four clusters—family subsistence agriculture workers or cluster A; while workers in food and agricultural production, banking and finance institutions, telecoms, and BPOS will be in cluster B.
Workers in malls, theaters, bars, resorts, casino, schools, and educational institutions would belong to cluster C, while workers in logistics and transport networks, food distribution and retail networks including public markets and restaurants; private security workers; public works/construction workers would be classified as cluster D.
Cluster A would be a low-impact and -risk cluster while B would be a high impact but low-risk cluster. Cluster C, meanwhile, would be a low-impact but high-risk cluster and cluster D would be a high-impact and -risk cluster.
The minimum requirements for cluster A workers would be basic safety measures such as social distancing, face masks, coughing manners, and handwashing protocols. For cluster B, minimum requirements are having basic safety measures and periodic sample-based testing.
For both clusters A and B, restriction in movements will be lifted except for those above 60 years old and those with comorbidities, or preexisting medical conditions that make them vulnerable to complications when treated for Covid-19.
For cluster C, the researchers said these establishments must remain closed and work-at-home arrangements should instead be pursued. However, if the location of these firms are in noninfected provinces, the requirements and rules for cluster B would apply.
In terms of cluster D, the paper stated, restrictions on movement should be lifted except for seniors and/or those with comorbidities. Dine-in services should also be prohibited.
As a minimum requirement, those working in this cluster must practice basic safety measures and be required to have personal protective equipment (PPE) where necessary. They should also be subjected to regular sample-based random testing.
“Restrictions on movement would not be lifted for establishments in cluster C. However, establishments may continue to operate by modifying business models as many are now doing [such as] remote learning, take-out and delivery services,” the researchers said.
Costs of periodic testing
THE researchers recommend that companies finance the Reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for their employees.
They said the RT-PCR test is estimated to cost P8,150 per test. The rapid antibody-based test is estimated to cost P1,930 per test. Companies can also avail themselves of the rapid antibody-based test worth P1,930 per test.
The costs would also vary according to the frequency with which tests have to be done. The researchers said workers in cluster D have to be tested weekly while those in cluster B can be tested every two weeks. The number of employees would also impact testing costs.
“A random sample of 10 employees could suffice if workers are [more than] 100, five employees if workers number from 31 to 100, and two employees if workers number 30 and below,” the researchers said.
In order to cut down on RT-PCR testing costs, the researchers said, if and when a sampled employee is tested positive, another approach would be to pool blood samples or swabs from employees of the firm into groups or batches.
This means only 20 RT-PCR tests will be processed for 100 workers. Only those batches that show positive results will be subjected to individual worker tests.
Such, they explained, will bring the initial RT- PCR testing cost down to P163,000 or P8,150 for 20 batches. If four batches are positive, all employees belonging to these two batches will have to be individually tested leading to a price tag of P163,000.
“For a firm with 100 workers, the RT-PCR protocol would therefore cost P163,000 [initial RT-PCR test] + P163,000 [if four batches are positive] = P326,000, substantially lower than P815,000 under a regular protocol where all 100 employees undergo RT-PCR testing at least once,” the authors said.
The researchers also included UP School of Economics Professors Toby C. Monsod, Maria Socorro Gochoco-bautista, Emmanuel S. de Dios, Joseph J. Capuno, Renato E. Reside Jr., Ma. Joy V. Abrenica, Agustin L. Arcenas, Ma. Christina Epetia, Laarni C. Escresa, Karl Jandoc, and Cielo Magno. UP College of Medicine’s Carlo Irwin A. Panelo was also one of the author.