Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has admitted that the country faced the biggest challenges this year due to the pandemic and that “2020 is the most difficult year in the history of the Department.”
“Even the most powerful countries, talagang pinaiyak ng (were driven to tears by) COVID-19. Lahat talaga umiyak dito (Everybody really cried here). Sobrang takot, sobrang pag-aalangan, sobrang maraming mga unknowns (There was too much fear, too much qualms, too many unknowns),” DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III revealed.
But the health chief said the department was able to respond quickly and effectively to fight COVID-19, by means of increasing the country’s testing capacity, deploying more contact tracers and implementing the minimum health standards.
Compared to previous months, the healthcare capacity in the country is currently in the safe zone.
The positivity rate also decreased to 4.6 percent compared to the benchmark set by the World Health Organization (WHO) at 5 percent. In fact, Sec. Duque claimed the country has already flattened the curve of the deadly disease but the number of cases is starting to spike again.
“It’s not just flattening. We were on a continuous downward trend until of course recently. The signs of a beginning surge are already observed. We have 8 to 9 cities that have registered a high attack rate,” he pointed out.
According to the DOH, the higher the attack rate is in an area, the higher the chance is for a person to be infected.
In the Philippines, the Municipality of Mancayan in Benguet has the highest attack rate with 59 percent, followed by Santiago, Isabela and Baguio City.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), Makati tops the local government units (LGUs) with high attack rates, followed by the town of Pateros, and the cities of San Juan, Pasay and Pasig.
Aside from this, the reproduction number in Metro Manila is still more than one. This means a COVID-19 patient may infect one or more persons.
The OCTA Research Group came up with a suggestion to slow down the transmission rate this holiday season.
“It could be prudent also for some LGUs na nasa hotspot list natin (in our hotspot list) to be stricter sa pag-ingress at pag-egress ng mga residente nila (with the ingress and egress of their residents).” Dr. Butch Ong of the OCTA Research Group reminded.
According to OCTA, it’s not necessary for the NCR to impose a stricter quarantine status, for as long as the public continues to comply with the health protocols. – Report from Mark Fetalco
