Interventions needed to prevent high number of daily cases
https://youtu.be/XdjmHTvB1iU
(Eagle News) — The Department of Health warned the public that COVID-19 cases are starting to spike again due to more movement of people, and more people disregarding health protocols with the start of the holiday season.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that COVID-19 cases can rise to as many as 4,000 per day in Metro Manila alone if there would be no intervention done to stop the spread this month.
She called this the expected holiday surge of cases.
Hospitals will be overwhelmed with virus cases if this is not stopped.
“Cases in the NCR may reach upward to 4,000 cases per day which may overwhelm our health system capacity to upwards of 80 percent utiluzation by the end of January if we do not act aggressively to halt the transmission now,” she said.
If the reproduction number or transmission rate of virus in Metro Manila was 0.8, now it has reached 1.
She also noted that dedicated beds in private hospitals remain low.
“If not augmented soon, health care capacities may be overwhelmed when the surge occurs,” Vergeire said.
She also reminded all agencies to remain on high alert and ready to “detect and crush possible case clusters” of COVID-19.
So far, in the past two weeks, the DOH and other health experts are already seeing a trend reversal, with notable increase in cases especially in Metro Manila, Region 1 (Ilocos Region), Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
She said that the number of new cases are highest in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Region 4A or the CALABARZON region, and Region 11 or Davao region.
She said that there should be increased vigilance this holiday season across all of Metro Manila cities or LGUs because of their close proximity with each other “which increases transmission risk.”
The DOH official said that in the US and Canada, such a holiday surge for COVID-19 cases is also happening.
Vergeire noted that in the Philippines, people have been disregarding safety and health protocols as more and more people go to public places, with less physical distancing in malls, shopping complexes, churches and other holiday venues.
“Although they are in open space, there are arill many people around which increases risk of transmission,” she said.
This is even though, people are wearing masks, she noted.
(Eagle News Service)
