Galvez wary despite flattening of curve
WHILE he welcomes the forecast that the coronavirus curve had started to flATTEN, THE CHIEF IMPLEMENTER OF THE government’s pandemic response reiterated his appeal for caution, saying there were still areas experiencing an alarming increase of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.
Carlito Galvez Jr. said he would fly to Bacolod City on Wednesday, September 9, along with other officials from National Task Force (NTF) to check on the dramatic increase of Covid- 19 cases there.
Over the weekend, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said he would recommend to the Inter-Agency
Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease the upgrading of the quarantine status in Bacolod, which Galvez confirmed on Monday.
The rise of cases in Bacolod came amid the forecast by the research group University of the Philippinesthat the country was seeing the flattening of the Covid-19 curve because of the slowing down of the reproduction rate.
In a briefing, Galvez boasted the measures undertaken by the government such as the “intensive enforcement of minimum health standards” like the mandatory wearing of face masks, face shields and the observance of physical distancing, as well as the aggressive isolation efforts through construction of quarantine facilities.
“But this positive development did not happen overnight. It took a lot of careful planning and painstaking effort between the national government, local government units, the private sector, medical frontliners and the general public, to achieve this milestone in our fight against the disease,” he said.
The forecast should not be the cause of celebration among the government and the public, Galvez stressed.
As of September 5, the Philippines had 117 accredited Covid testing laboratories and more than 2 million individuals have been tested.
Galvez also maintained that home quarantine is still the biggest reason for the high number of Covid cases, despite pronouncements from the Department of Health (DoH).
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire had stressed in an earlier briefing that home quarantine should not be blamed for the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country, pointing instead to the gradual reopening of the economy.
Galvez noted that well- off families who had rooms for home quarantine were the ones most affected by the virus.
“What is happening right now, ang mga mayayaman na may capability to home quarantine, sila ang mga tinatamaan, pami-pamilya...that is why ang findings namin talaga, ang home quarantine ang cause ng (they are the ones being infected, families, that is why our findings say that that there are) massive contamination between families,” he said.
“Infections right now are coming from the home; it is) the most vulnerable place for us because we don’t have personal protective equipment in the house,” he added.
Galvez said Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd agreed with him.
“Nakita n’ya ‘yung sa Cebu, 1,900 ang naka-[ home] quarantine, how can you impose quarantine to a 25-square-meter nabahay? Secretary Duque ‘yan kaya kami nagpagawa ng mega quarantine facilities ( He saw what happened in Cebu, where 1,900 were quarantined. How can you impose quarantine on someone with a 25 square meter house?),” he said.
Galvez maintained his position that home quarantine should be discouraged, and noted that the business sector has requested the health department to stop implementing it.
He said that to prevent community transmission, all positive cases must be transferred to a temporary isolation area.