The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday blamed the surge in Covid-19 cases on the public’s non-compliance with the minimum public health standards (MPHS), saying it is not “solely” due to the B1351 (South Africa) variant or the B117 (UK) variant detected in the country.
“We would like to clarify because there has been this issue na kaya tumataas ang kaso ay [the cases are rising] because of the variants. We would just like to inform the public na tumataas ang kaso—totoo pero hindi natin pwede sabihin na ’yung variants ang naging cause solely, na siya lang talaga. Kaya tayo tumaas ay dumating ang variants—hindi po [The cases are increasing—yes that is true, but we could not say that this surge in cases is because of the variants—no]!” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media forum.
“We just like that clear, kasi ayaw din namin na tinatakot ang tao na kaya tumaas ang kaso dahil pumasok ang variants, nakikita na natin ang trends natin [We don’t want the people to be scared that the cases are rising because of the variants, we saw the trends and with that observation, there has been a lapse in the compliance to the minimum health protocol],” she pointed out.
The health official also said that they welcome the latest projections of the Octa Research team that by the end of March, there would be as many as 6,000 new Covid-19 infections a day.
Octa also said the daily cases in the National Capital Region could reach 2,000, and could further increase to 3,000 before April.
“We are open to this estimations…we make that as our guide but look at also the data of the DOH [Department of Health] with our epidemiology [bureau],” she stressed.
Health protocols
The “underlying cause,” Vergeire reiterated, is the non-compliance to the MPHS and that the variants merely “aggravated” the increase in the cases.
“Marami tayong nakikita na naka-mask pero nasa baba, naka face shield pero nasa ulo na nila [We saw many persons wearing face mask below the chin, face shield covering their head not their face],” Vergeire added.
Data from the DOH earlier showed “very sharp” two-week increases of more than 40-percent increase per week. These were observed in Quezon City, Makati, Taguig, Parañaque, Caloocan and Mandaluyong.
With the surge in cases, Vergeire urged the public to strictly adhere to the MPHS, especially in the face of threats from UK and South Africa variants.
“Variant na ang nakuha, variant na ang ipapasa mo sa iba. Eh ang variant ay higher ang transmission. Mas nakapapamanghawa, so mas bumibilis ang kaso. [If you have the variant, then the same variant could be contracted by others. The variant has a higher transmission rate. It can infect easily so our cases would predictably increase also],” the DOH official stressed.
The best intervention, she emphasized, is still the compliance of the health protocols in place.
“As long as our public would not be able to comply with the minimum health protocols that are there…and then nandiyan ang posibilidad na dadami ang kaso ngayon dumating ang variants [then there is the possibility that the cases will increase now that we have the variants],” she added.
‘Alarming’
SEN. Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, lamented Monday the resurgence of Covid-19 cases.
“It is alarming and it should concern our health authorities,” Lacson said.
In a statement, the senator suggested that “aside from the existing health protocols which Filipinos have already grown accustomed to, contact tracing is key: first, to determine the specific areas where the surges occur or are evident, so that extra control measures and closer supervision can be instituted immediately.”
Lacson, likewise, noted that “this is where the role of the local government units becomes indispensable since they are the closest to the potential spreaders—not to mention their familiarity with the people in their localities.” With Butch Fernandez
Image credits: Nonie Reyes