By Myris Lee
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned the country on Monday, April 18, not to lower its guard against COVID-19 to prevent another resurgence of cases.
Dr. Rajendra Yadav, WHO acting representative to the Philippines, said the 300,000 projected COVID-19 cases by the middle of May is possible if the low compliance with minimum health standards continues.
“If we have the local read that we don’t have the vaccines in many barangays and many provinces and if we relax our guards, if we relax our defenses, then yes, it’s possible to get to those numbers,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing.
“Because in South Korea which has half the population of the Philippines, they have already tested 600,000 cases per day. That’s huge and there is no way of saying how that will affect the Philippines if we lower our guards,” he added.
Yadav advised the government to focus on increasing the vaccination rate instead of the number of infections.
“Also, we should not focus too much on the number of cases, [we should focus instead on the] number of people vaccinated. That is more important,” he said.
The WHO official said the government has to prioritize the high risk groups for COVID-19 testing, such as medical frontliners and vulnerable sectors like the elderly and the immunocompromised. – ag
