Public compliance with COVID-19 minimum health standards ‘deteriorating’ – OCTA Research

Some people no longer adhere to minimum health standards, such as wearing of face shield and observing physical distancing, to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the OCTA Research revealed.

“While most people practice the minimum health standards, they don't practice it everyday. In fact, majority of people wear face masks, (but) the number goes down as we talk about (using) face shields and (observing) social distancing,” OCTA Research fellow Ranjit Rye said, citing the initial results of OCTA's nationwide survey on the practice of public safety standards.

The full results of the survey will be released this week.

“These three basic elements of minimum public health safety standards have to be maintained on a daily basis until we have vaccinations for everyone in place. We want to emphasize this, there is a slackening of... there is a deterioration in compliance as far as using face shields and social distancing are concerned,” he said during a virtual press conference on Wednesday, March 3.

Rye appealed to the public to continue to be vigilant and disciplined in following the minimum health standards set by the Department of Health amid the surge of new COVID19 cases in Metro Manila.

“National government together with the LGUs (local government units) must strictly monitor and enforce compliance with minimum health standards, such as physical distancing, wearing of face mask and face shield, and proper hygiene to reverse the increase in transmission at the community level,” he said.

“Moving forward, we believe that what citizens do will be more important than any intervention by the government does in the fight against COVID-19,” he added.

Likewise, the public was urged to “avoid not just crowded and enclosed areas but also to refrain from joining or organizing social gatherings during this period of surge.”

The OCTA expert cited that the “potentially serious surge” in Metro Manila is still in the early stages and can be mitigated.

“Now is not the time to loosen restrictions, we need to be even stricter,” he said.

“In the identified high-risk LGUs, the implementation of more aggressive and effective localized lockdowns with stricter border controls is urgently needed to suppress further viral transmissions,” he added.

Rye also recommended that high-risk LGUs in Metro Manila and other areas “to further intensify their efforts at testing, tracing, and isolation to reverse the increase in transmissions in their communities.”

He said private companies should also conduct intensified testing of their employees.

Rye also cited the importance of genome sequencing amid the presence of UK and South Africa COVID-19 variants in the Philippines. “Biosurveillance is now a national security concern,” he said.

“Given the surge of new cases in the NCR, we encourage our health workers in the region and in the adjacent provinces, to get themselves vaccinated while the situation is still manageable,” he added.