Says it’s a means to improve COVID response
THE government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic remains wanting more than a year into the health crisis because the administration still refuses to accept its shortcomings, especially when it comes from the opposition, Vice President Leni Robredo said yesterday.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Robredo reiterated her stand that the government should be receptive to criticisms because it is the only way to improve its pandemic response, especially now that there is a surge in the number of cases and deaths even after Metro Manila and neighboring provinces were placed under a two-week lockdown.
“Para na tayong sirang plaka (We sound like a broken record),” she told anchor Ely Saludar on her weekly radio program. “Iyong first step kasi pagtanggap, pagtanggap ng kakulangan. Kasi kung walang pagtanggap, Ka Ely, kaya siguro nangyayari ito. Kaya siguro ang tagal na natin, kaya siguro mabagal, mabagal iyong pag-aksyon, kasi nga walang pagtanggap (The first step is to accept, accepting shortcomings. Because if there’s no acceptance, Ka Ely, I think that’s why this is happening. That’s probably why we’ve been lagging behind, we’re too slow, our actions are slow because there’s no acceptance).”
“I hope they forget who’s criticizing them and just help each other,” she added.
The Vice President made the statement after the Department of Health reported that as of last Saturday, there were already 203,710 active COVID-19 cases in the country, the highest number of active cases recorded so far.
The country’s confirmed cases have reached 926,052, the second-highest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.
Robredo said one solid proof of the national government’s shortcoming is its refusal to accept that there is a need to ramp up testing, which she said was why her office had to launch its own “Swab Cab” mobile testing initiative to help local government units (LGUs) increase testing capacity in areas where there are reported surge in the number of cases.
Robredo said the program should be replicated by the LGU level but it cannot be done without the support of the national government, which she lamented has been insisting that free testing remains accessible to the public.
“That’s not accurate because if it’s accurate, then the people wouldn’t flock to us. Things like that, Ka Ely. For example, our hospitals lack a lot of things,” she said.
The Vice President said she has long been saying that the 30,000 to 50,000 tests undertaken daily in the country is insufficient but it was only in the past few days that the tests have increased to 60,000, a day which she said is still not enough given the virus’ extremely high positivity rate of 19 percent.
She said that on top of this, additional hospital beds are needed but the government’s response has been too slow “that’s why even if it is being done already, it’s effects are not really felt.”
Robredo also said the government should already stop its “business as usual” attitude because people’s lives are at stake.
Likewise, Robredo said there were a lot of wasted opportunities during the March 29 to April 11 enhanced community quarantine because the government did not plan ahead how to efficiently and systematically conduct vaccinations, taking too long to use up some two million vials of Sinovac and Astrazeneca vaccines that arrived in the country.
“October to December passed, we knew that the vaccines were coming but it appears there was still no efficient vaccination plan,” she said.
As early as March, the Vice President said she was already saying that there is a need to undertake 200,000 vaccinations because 70 to 90 million people have to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity by the end of the year.
President Duterte, in a public address last Thursday night, warned that many more will die because of the insufficient supply of vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire yesterday said that while COVID-19 cases remain high, the Department of Health believes that the two-week lockdown and the current modified ECQ in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal are already bearing fruit.
Vergeire said the lockdowns have a positive effect in terms of helping decongest overwhelmed healthcare facilities.
“What is most important to us right now is that even though the numbers are still rising, we should have enough health care capacity to accommodate those who need hospital care or who need quarantine care,” said Vergeire.
“This is what we have been working on during this MECQ period. So, hopefully, in the coming days, we continue to see the decongestion of hospitals and expansion of bed capacities,” she added.
The health official appealed anew to appeal to private hospitals to adhere to the policy of expanding their COVID-19 bed capacities to 30 percent.
“If there is this increase in the number of cases, private hospitals should be able to expand their capacity by as much as 30 percent from their original capacity for COVID. This is in the law and we are just enforcing and implementing it,” said Vergeire.
In turn, she assured that the DOH is prepared to provide the necessary assistance to private hospitals.
“If they need healthcare workers, we are prepared to help address their needs if only to ensure the expansion of their bed capacities,” said Vergeire.
Over the weekend, the independent OCTA Research Team expressed belief that the MECQ in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces may not be working in stemming the spread of COVID-19 because of the continued rise in COVID-19 cases reported daily.
But according to Vergeire, the number of new COVID-19 cases is not the only basis in gauging the effects of the MECQ.
“It is not just the numbers that we are looking at. We also look at our health care capacity.
There should be a balance between the two,” said Vergeire.
In a radio interview, Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) vice president Dr. Maricar Limpin said there are emergency departments of some hospitals that are still overwhelmed. — With Gerard Naval
