PH soon Asia’s Covid hotspot

THE Philippines was poised to dislodge Indonesia as the pandemic hotspot in Southeast Asia on Tuesday as the country logged 6,352 new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the highest single-day tally.

The country now has 112,593 total cases, 44,429 of these active.

Indonesia, which topped the Covid-19 count in Asia for months, had 113,134 virus cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

With only a difference of 514 cases, the Philippines could soon be declared as the country with the highest number of coronavirus cases in Asia as the country’s cases continue to increase. On Sunday, the Department of Health ( DoH) logged 5,032 new cases, the second highest in a day.

Of the new cases recorded from 80 out of 94 subnational laboratories, 2,560 were fresh or validated within three days while 3,792 were part of the ongoing validation backlog. Some 3,139 new cases came from the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila).

The number of recoveries reached 66,049 with 240 new recoveries added to

tally while 11 new deaths were added to the rising toll now at 2,115.

The new cases were reported as the Health department was finalizing its plan to reinforce tired health personnel in Metro Manila, who called for a break, with health workers from provinces with low or zero cases.

The plan is part of the solutions presented to the medical frontliners, who asked the government to impose a modified enhanced community quarantine.

The department said it was finalizing the details on the composition of the reserve health workers team from the provinces.

“Pan gun gun a ha np on gib a’ ti bang op is in aD oH angpagh ir en gating mg a [Health human resources] parasa NCR, Region 3 (Central Luzon) at Region 4A (Calabarzon) lalonasamga public and private hospitals and medical centers (The hiring of health human resources for NCR, Region 3 and Region 4A, especially in those public and private hospitals and medical centers, is being led by the different offices of the DoH),” it said.

In a virtual press conference on Tuesday hosted by the Philippine College of Physicians, Dr. Lei Camiling-Alfonso of the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians

(PSPHP) said meetings were ongoing with the DoH regarding the deployment of health care workers from the provinces to Metro Manila.

“There are mechanisms in place, and we’d like to see all the options.

Hindi poka sis’ ya as simple ... mar a ming factor sang kai lang an pa g-i sip ann gating mg a op is ya ls aD oH in augmenting[ health personnel ]( It is not that simple... there are many factors to consider by the DoH in terms of augmenting health personnel),” Camiling-Alfonso said.

Dr. Aileen Espina, also of the PSPHP, said the system of relieving medical personnel from less-affected areas was not a new concept, as it has been used before whenever natural calamities or disasters strike.

“It can be a very small team... [like in] NCR, they might need specific skilled teams to help.” Espina added.

The Health department added that it plans to give more benefits to health workers who will be deployed in Metro Manila and other Covid-19 hotspots by extending their contract from three months to six. The department will also provide free accommodations, transportation and frequent testing to health workers.