No lockdown despite rising COVID-19 cases Rise due to poor compliance, not variants – DOH
Despite the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, a hard lockdown is out of the question as many people are already experiencing hunger, Malacañang said yesterday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made this clear at a press briefing as the Department of Health (DOH) said complacency may have driven the increase in COVID-19 cases and not the emergence of new variants.
More than 3,000 new infections daily have been reported since March 5, a development that some experts have linked to the new and more infectious COVID-19 variants first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
The OCTA Research Group recently predicted that the Philippines may record 5,000 to 6,000 new COVID-19 infections a day by the end of March because of the rapid spread of the new variants.
Roque, however, said there is no need to panic yet because the Philippines still has enough health care facilities to accommodate new cases. He said 60 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 65 percent
of isolation beds, 75 percent of ward beds and 77 percent of ventilators remain available.
“Do we need to panic? No. Why? Because we imposed a lockdown to improve our capability to treat the serious cases. We improved our health care capacity. That means, while there are new variants that are more transmissible, the trend did not change, that most of the cases are mild and asymptomatic,” Roque said at a press briefing.
“What is important is we have the capability to care for those with serious conditions, whether it be in ICU beds, isolation beds or ward beds,” he added.
He stressed there’s no need for further tightening of quarantine restrictions. Metro Manila and some urban centers are still under general community quarantine (GCQ) while the rest of the country is under the most relaxed modified GCQ (MGCQ).
“For the month of March, I don’t think it is called for. Why? Because the data serve as our basis. Even if the number of cases increases, we are ready to treat those with serious conditions, which is about two to three percent of the cases,” the Palace spokesman said.
“To be honest, we cannot afford a lockdown of the economy. Many are getting hungry,” he added.
Roque said the public should continue to follow minimum health standards like frequent hand washing, physical distancing and wearing of face masks and face shields.
Local governments should also implement isolation measures for the sick and strengthen contact tracing and testing efforts.
“I think we can beat COVID-19 even if not all of us have been vaccinated. Let’s just comply with our known weapons against COVID-19 – masks, hand-washing, distancing and vaccine,” Roque said.
“My appeal is let us not get tired (of following the health protocols) because the vaccine is here, the start of the end of our problem,” he added.
Former health chief Manuel Dayrit agreed that there is no need to impose lockdowns for now, saying the surge in infections may have been caused by a drop in compliance, which can be fixed.
“We want to open up the economy. And therefore, if you want to do an ECQ, we have to check its impact... As far as an immediate ECQ – I don’t want to say we should do it... because it’s drastic and we know it has an economic impact. So, we shouldn’t just say close everything again,” Dayrit said, referring to the strictest enhanced community quarantine.
At the same press briefing, Gerardo Legaspi, medical director of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), denied that the state-run hospital is being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases.
“It’s not true that we are being overrun by COVID patients. We were overrun by non-COVID patients last month so we are adjusting again,” Legaspi said. “We are not really overwhelmed, we just need to reshuffle beds and bring back our capacity to accept COVID patients.”
He said PGH is still accepting nonCOVID patients but the hospital has issued an advisory stating that while it is looking for beds for COVID-19 patients, it would only admit limband life-threatening conditions, those who figured in accidents and traumas and those about to give birth.
“That is our appeal to the public. For those who do not belong to the categories I mentioned, if possible, they should be brought to other local hospitals. Just for now, we are preparing beds for COVID patients,” Legaspi said.
Poor compliance
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said poor compliance with health protocols should explain the rising number of cases.
Vergeire noted that contrary to perceptions, the emergence of new COVID-19 variants is not the only reason why cases are on an upswing.
On the contrary, she underscored the existence of new variants could be the result of the increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.
“Our cases have markedly increased from the previous… But our cases will not increase if we are only able to comply with the minimum health protocols,” she said.
According to Vergeire, there is “no chance” for the new variants to develop if the number of COVID-19 cases is low.
“If we are able to control the increase in the number of cases and, therefore, we can be able to manage the rise of the new variants in our country, we can also prevent further mutations of this virus,” she said.
Vergeire noted that from Dec. 25, 2020 to Jan. 2, 2021, COVID-19 cases nationwide averaged 1,000 to 1,200 a week. But now, some 2,400 cases are being recorded weekly.
At the National Capital Region, the figures went up from 300 to 400 to 1,000 cases per week while in Region 7, cases rose from 27 to 30 cases to 400 per week.
She maintained there is no sufficient evidence to prove that the rising cases of COVID-19 are due to the detection of 58 cases of South African variant and 118 cases of United Kingdom variant in the Philippines.
“Whatever increase in the number of cases we are having right now, we cannot attribute them solely to the variants. The underlying cause of why cases are increasing is because of the non-compliance to the health protocols that we have,” the official stressed.
Dayrit made the same observation. “I think the surge is actually due to a drop in the compliance, which we can fix, and also an increase in the mobility (of people),” he pointed out at a public briefing.
“So policy-wise, we have to make sure that… the minimum health standards are complied with because that will have an immediate impact that will stop transmission,” he said.
Call for patience
Sen. Bong Go, chairman of the Senate committee on health, also warned the public against complacency.
“Let’s not be complacent while COVID-19 is still with us. Your cooperation and compliance with protocols can save lives of fellow Filipinos,” Go said in Filipino.
“More patience please. The government is doing everything to ensure relentless vaccination of Filipinos. Proper vaccine rollout is key and solution that can help us hurdle this pandemic confronting us,” he said in Filipino.
Despite the arrival of vaccines, Go said there should be no room for complacency and that health protocols should be strictly followed.
While urging the public to trust vaccines, Go said Filipinos should not let their guard down until the country achieves herd immunity.
“Let’s not be afraid of vaccines; be afraid of COVID-19. It’s vaccine that can kill COVID, it’s vaccine that can provide us the key to solving our problem,” he said. “Let us work together to keep the enemy at bay.”
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said stricter enforcement of health protocols should be done in areas with spikes in COVID-19 cases.
DILG officer-in-charge Bernardo Florece Jr. said he has ordered local government units (LGU) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to launch a crackdown on quarantine violators.
“Our LGUs as well as our PNP have become complacent in enforcing our minimum health standards. We therefore task our local officials, barangay and police to strictly implement basic health protocols in all villages in the country,” he said in a statement.
Florece said contact tracing should also be mandatory in all business establishments and the workplace, he added, and that more contact tracers in areas with rising cases would be deployed. The PNP was also ordered to strictly enforce curfews.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III backed calls for stricter implementation of health protocols. “We have become too complacent,” Sotto said.
“The alarming surge in COVID-19 infections must be addressed with quicker action to deliver the shots to our health workers and other priority groups as we anticipate the arrival of more vaccines in the coming days,” Sen. Grace Poe said.
Sen. Sonny Angara said Filipinos have to be reminded of the health protocols as “many have let their guard down.”
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said concerned agencies must improve contact tracing efforts to determine the specific areas where the surges occur or are evident so that extra control measures and closer supervision can be instituted immediately.
“Just like the common cold and the flu which are also caused by unseen viruses, we just have to learn to adjust our lives to the presence of the COVID-19 virus in our world,” Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said.