Experts from the University of the Philippines believe the reversion to Modified Enhanced Quarantine (MECQ) of the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby areas will be of great help to curb their prediction of more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases by the end of August.
“220,000 ang aming estimate projection sa August pero dahil nag-MECQ tayo, bababa between 50k to 70k ho ang bagsak or minus doon sa mga bagong kaso (220,000 is our estimate projection in August, but due to MECQ, it will decline between 50k to 70k, or minus on the new cases),” Prof. Ranjit Rye disclosed.
“Yung transmission rate ngayon nasa halos 1.5 na, after 15 days. Babagsak ng 1 ‘yan. Malaking bagay po yan. Iyon ‘yung kailangan nating bantayan yung trend po (The current transmission rate is 1.5, after 15 days it will fall to 1. It is a big thing. The trend is what we need to monitor),” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) admitted it cannot conclude yet “if we can contain the transmission within two weeks.”
“We don’t see that happening. Pero ang magagawa naman po natin, mauumpisahan natin, itong mas pinaigting na response para mas ma-manage natin ang mga kaso sa mga darating na panahon (But what we can do is to start a better response to manage cases in the coming days),” DOH USec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
The medical community has welcomed the President’s move to listen to their call for a “time out.”
Philippine Medical Association (PMA) said their response to the pandemic depends on the DOH and IATF.
“Ito’y malaking bagay (This is a great thing), itong (the) two weeks. Although it’s very short but it’s very long for us since we’re going to take a lead time for us to really slow down the transmission of the virus,” Dr. Joseph Santiago of PMA shared.
In a statement, the Philippine College of Physicians clarified that their call to save the healthcare system aims not for division, but for unity and support in the health department and the government.
Meanwhile, DOH data show that 741 of the 887 clusters in the country are from communities, 57 from hospitals and health facilities, 26 in prisons, and 63 from other areas such as workplaces, accommodations, and transportation.
As of August 3, there are 106,330 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 65,821 recoveries, and 2,104 deaths nationwide. – Report from Mark Fetalco
