Longer lockdown, missed opportunities: PH COVID-19 cases exceed 300,000

MANILA, Philippines – The country reached an undesirable milestone when its total COVID-19 cases surpassed 300,000 on Saturday, nearly eight months since the country recorded its first infection in a visiting Chinese woman.

With 2,747 new infections, the national total rose to 301,256, a reminder of how the government is still grappling with how to stop the spread of the new coronavirus that causes severe respiratory illness.

Despite the world’s longest lockdown, the country has not significantly reduced the number of new COVID-19 cases.

In the 22-member Western Pacific region of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Philippines alone continues to report thousands of cases a day.

Among the Philippines’ partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Indonesia is the only other country with a high number of infections.

Comparing countries

The Department of Health (DOH) says that comparing countries’ successes or failures in dealing with the pandemic should take into account their diverse health systems, resources and populations.

But in an interconnected world, critics say they cannot be blamed for making comparisons, as other countries prove to be more capable of handling the pandemic.

At first, DOH was unable to find even half of the 1,195 people who were possibly in contact with the three Chinese tourists from Wuhan who were the first reported cases in the country.

When the first local case was confirmed on March 7, health officials were unable to explain how and where that elderly man who frequented Greenhills in San Juan contracted the virus.

Acceleration

The outbreak quickly accelerated. At the end of March, 2,084 were infected.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said authorities missed the earliest and best chance of contracting those who had the virus before they became severe cases or infected others at the time most the population was blocked.

People with mild symptoms should have been screened as well, as it was then easier to track down those with whom they had come into contact.

The Undersecretary of Health María Rosario Vergeire admitted the “efforts [at that time] they weren’t enough. “

“So now we are strengthening that,” he said.

Only in August, active case finding became a high priority under the Coordinated Operations to Defeat the Epidemic (CODE) strategy. CODE provides stronger support to cities and municipalities that have a large number of cases or clusters but fewer resources such as health personnel and quarantines.

The strategy is one of the “most efficient ways for localized closures to work” to avoid reverting to strict quarantine, Vergeire said.

CODE was implemented after healthcare workers requested a two-week “wait time” due to the sudden increase in cases after the economy reopened, and the inappropriate use and over-reliance on rapid antibody tests.

Call for ‘timeout’

The medical community has repeatedly warned that such tests failed to detect “more than half of the people with active contagious diseases.”

But some employers ignored the warning and pushed for it to be used to screen people returning to work.

When Metro Manila came under the loosest general community quarantine on June 1, it had more than 18,000 cases. The number more than doubled to 37,000 by the end of the month.

The country surpassed the 100,000 mark on August 2, a day after a “time-out” was called. On August 26, the number of infections exceeded 200,000.

During that period, the rate of critical care utilization, or the use of hospital wards, isolation areas, intensive care unit beds, and mechanical ventilators for COVID-19 patients, particularly in Metro Manila, peaked at 81 percent. Currently, it is down to 54 percent.

DOH: stay alert

But Vergeire cautioned against complacency as long as the health system showed improvement.

“The virus is still here,” he said during Laging Handa’s briefing on Saturday. “Let us remain vigilant. We must always be vigilant and aware. “

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) also reminded the public to cooperate and follow health protocols. Controlling the spread of the disease is not the sole responsibility of authorities, he said.

“We cannot be complacent because if we do, we may see another spike or increase in COVID-19 cases. The fight is not over yet, ”said Dr. Maricar Limpin, PCP Vice President.

He urged the public to continue wearing masks and face shields, washing their hands and maintaining a physical distance of about 2 meters as they were very effective preventive measures.

Medical experts and scientists also continue to insist that their voice be heard as the health crisis persists.

In a statement last week before the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, the Lancet COVID-19 Commission emphasized the need for governments to listen to the medical community to effectively control the spread of the virus.

Disagree with science

“All countries must combat decisions based on hearsay and misinformation,” the statement said. “Leaders must desist from expressing personal views that are at odds with science.”

The commission was created in July to help the government, civil society and UN institutions respond to the pandemic. The Lancet is a renowned medical journal founded in 1823.

In the country, the Alliance of Health Professionals Against COVID-19 said that various government working groups were now more frequently seeking advice from health experts on key policies and how to improve responses to the pandemic.

“We are very grateful that this is happening. Let the voice of science be heard, ”said Dr. Antonio Dans, spokesman for the coalition of more than 160 medical societies.

The increase in the number of infections due to continued community transmission, mainly attributable to strict non-compliance with prescribed health measures, is reflected in the country’s increased capacity to test for the new coronavirus.

From just one at the start of the pandemic, there are now 134 labs capable of doing more than 30,000 tests daily. The DOH reported that as of Friday, 3,383,141 people had been tested for the virus.

Apparent slowdown

The additional cases reported Saturday show an apparent slowdown in new infections. There were only three occasions in September when daily cases exceeded 4,000. There have been an average of 3,169 daily cases this month.

Of the most recent cases, 2,471 became ill between September 13 and 26, while 162 became ill between September 1 and 12. Metro Manila still has the highest number of infections at 1,115.

The recovery of 787 patients brought the number of survivors to 232,906. However, the death toll rose to 5,284 after 88 patients succumbed to the disease.

Recoveries and deaths leave the country with 63,066 active cases.

—With a report from Leila B. Salaverria

For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.

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For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.

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