DOTr eases the distancing rule on public transportation

MANILA, Philippines – Four days after the government announced that it would ban home confinement in mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Friday it would begin easing restrictions on public transportation in an attempt to reactivate the economy. in its worst recession in decades.

The DOTr said it wants to reduce the required distance between passengers to 0.75 meters, below the distance of 1 meter recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

But the announcement prompted the Department of Health (DOH) to seek discussions, especially since these policy changes can strain the country’s health system or lead to new infections, as happened with several countries that reopened as soon as they saw a stabilization in new infections

The difficult balancing act has become the crux of discussions among health and economic managers, as 42 more people in the country died from the new coronavirus that still affects 62,250 patients out of a national count of 252,964 infections. The death toll climbed to 4,108, while recoveries rose to 186,606.

DOH reported an additional 4,040 new cases, the first time since Aug. 26 that new infections increased by more than 4,000, but the agency clarified that this figure may be due to the delay in submitting data from testing laboratories.

Of the 62,250 still active cases, 88.8 percent are mild, 8.4 percent asymptomatic, 1.1 percent severe, and 1.7 percent critical.

In a statement on Friday, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said “There is a need to safely optimize the cargo capacity of various modes of public transportation as Metro Manila and its adjacent areas continue to transition to the ‘ new normal ‘”.

“Conversations are underway on how we can do this without, of course, compromising these measures of physical distance that we are saying,” said Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, after the Department of Transportation announced that it would postpone the implementation of the new rule, supposedly September 7. 14, until a resolution has been reached.

Tugade said the physical distance requirement will remain in place but will be reduced from 0.75 meters to 0.5 meters to 0.3 meters in four weeks. People would still be prohibited from taking or making phone calls while aboard utility vehicles (USP).

The move was apparently in response to pleas from business sectors to ease restrictions on transportation and workplace capacity in order to revive the economy and help millions of Filipinos find jobs lost when the country closed.

Quarantine at home

The revision of DOTr’s policy comes just days after Secretary of the Interior Eduardo Año, of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, announced that the government would prohibit home confinement for mild and asymptomatic patients.

But Vergeire said discussions on the ban were ongoing to come up with a “more precise and comprehensive recommendation.”

As it stands, Vergeire said guidelines already existed on who should be admitted to temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF) and who could be isolated at home.

DOH only allows home quarantine if a mild or asymptomatic patient has their own room and bathroom, does not interact with family members, and does not live with people with comorbidities, pregnant women, and the elderly.

‘Unwanted effects’

Former health president Manuel Dayrit, on the other hand, said that the proposal to ban home quarantine could have “unwanted effects” on the measures against COVID-19 and that people who do not want to be admitted to the TTMF can simply opt by “hiding your symptoms and [test] results “.

Not enough beds

The data also shows that there are simply not enough beds available for mild and asymptomatic patients. As of September 6, the average TTMF utilization rate nationwide was 41 percent.

In Metro Manila, there are a total of 5,846 beds, or a ratio of 1: 2,362. Bed utilization was 59 percent.

As of Thursday, Metro Manila accounts for nearly half of the roughly 59,000 active cases, or 29,188. Nationally, 97 percent of all cases are mild and asymptomatic.

Applying that average to the capital region means that there are more than 28,000 mild and asymptomatic patients, almost five times the current capacity of TTMF in the metropolis.

Even using the lower global threshold of 80 percent mild cases, the current capacity of TTMF beds is still not sufficient, as at this rate quarantines should be able to accommodate at least 23,000 patients.

Dayrit added that if the requirement for physical distancing is lowered, the government should know whether other protective measures, such as the use of masks, could “offset the protection it could theoretically lose.”

Cooperation

However, he acknowledged that concessions would have to be made due to the economic impact of the outbreak.

“People must follow the rules very consciously: do not talk, do not use phones, do not eat [in public transport]. There has to be a lot of cooperation. Unless there is public education, it may not work, ”he said.

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