By Samuel P. Medenilla & Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
DESPITE the surge in local cases of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday the country is still in the right direction to slow down its spread.
In a press briefing, WHO Representative in the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe commended the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon, which he said is crucial for the government to “buy time” to prepare its health-care system for the influx of Covid-infected patients.
“That [ECQ] is important in buying time to flatten the epidemic and reduce the pace of the outbreak,” Abeyasinghe said.
The WHO official, however, noted that the lockdown of Luzon will be insufficient to contain the spread of the disease if it does not go with strict social distancing.
“The government is doing what it can. It is now the responsibility of everyone of us to maintain the physical distancing, particularly from those who are vulnerable: the elderly, the people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cancer and asthma, because we know if they become sick, the outcomes are going to be less favorable,” Abeyasinghe said.
From less than 10 confirmed cases last month, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country rose to 552 based on the March 24 monitoring report of the Department of Health (DOH).
Related story on page A8, “DOH reports 90 new Covid-19 cases, moves to protect patients with TB.”
Abeyasinghe said a similar surge in the number of Covid-19 cases is happening at a global scale.
Based on WHO’s March 23 report, there are already 332,930 confirmed Covid-19 cases worldwide.
“We need to recognize that this is now classified as a pandemic. In the words of our director general it is accelerating. The first 100,000 cases took 67 days, the second 100,000 took 11 days, the third 100,000 took 4 days, so more and more countries are affected,” Abeyasinghe said.
‘Not the enemy’
Also on Tuesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire advised Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro not to consider the Department of Health as the enemy. This, after the mayor said Monday the DOH should not look at them as a “mere client” applying for a license to operate a laboratory facility for coronavirus disease testing.
On Sunday, Teodoro was surprised to learn that Vergeire said they did not approve yet the testing center of Marikina.
Vergeire said that when they heard about the molecular lab, they immediately sent a team to check.
“We need to do the assessment process to ensure the quality and safety of the procedures,” Vergeire said in a radio interview.
Once the assessment shows that the molecular lab is capable, then it can operate right away, she said.
“Let’s not prematurely lift expectations, because our people might start pinning their hopes on it. Even my family might have its expectations,” Vergeire said, disclosing that she is also from Marikina and Teodoro is a friend as well.
On Tuesday (March 24), a team from the DOH again inspected the lab.
“Just observe proper context and process. If the team says it’s okay, then we can proceed. We will use it for it would also be a big help for the government,” Vergeire added.
The DOH official explained that a molecular lab is “not just a simple lab,” and highly technical people should be manning the lab, as they activate the extracted virus at the facility.
“If this is done by untrained personnel, then we will have a problem. What if the health worker gets infected? That is why we have this kind of laboratories in big institutions to prevent the spread of the virus,” she explained.
On Monday, Teodoro said the DOH should allow the city’s testing center and the locally developed testing kits to be used for mass testing, stressing that people badly need to be tested for Covid-19, especially now that the country is facing a public health emergency.
“DOH should not treat Marikina as a client applying for a license to operate a laboratory like this…it should be a partnership,” he stressed.
The mayor met key officials of the DOH, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the WHO and the Marikina City Health Office on Monday.
Teodoro said Rizal province and Pasig will also benefit from the Marikina Testing Center.
The city government of Marikina partnered with Manila Health Tek Inc., the first biotechnology private company for health in the country, which is a spinoff of University of the Philippines-Manila. Marikina City is procuring 3,000 Covid-19 testing kits from the firm.
The doctors of the Marikina City Health Office will be trained by the scientists and doctors of Manila Health Tek Inc. for the molecular laboratory.
Image credits: AP?Aaron favila