Public urged to still follow COVID protocols
THE Department of Health yesterday said it has not seen any uptick in COVID-19 cases more than a week after the National Capital Region (NCR) and 38 other areas were downgraded to the least restrictive to Alert Level 1.
The DOH statement came after government’s economic managers recommended placing the whole country under Level 1, which Health Secretary Francisco Duque opposed on Tuesday.
Alert Level 1 in the 39 areas will be in effect until March 15. At least 60 other areas nationwide are under Level 2. The new alert levels for March 16 to 31 will be discussed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in a meeting today.
“At present, we have not seen any increase in COVID-19 cases since we have implemented Alert Level 1 in several areas in the country,” said the DOH.
This, it said, is despite the expected increase in the mobility of people as employers have implemented 100 percent workforce capacity, while establishments can now operate in their full capacities.
The DOH gave the assurance the government strictly monitors the mobility of the public under Alert Level 1.
Add to this, the DOH said, will be the incessant reminders on adherence to minimum public health standards and the continued vaccination drive.
The independent OCTA Research has projected that COVID-19 cases will either continue to decline or plateau at 1,000 cases daily under Alert Level 1.
The DOH has said it is prepared for the worst scenario under the Alert Level 1.
OCTA, in its latest report, said the National Capital Region or Metro Manila remains at “low” risk from COVID-19.
For the period March 2 to 8, NCR had “very low” reproduction rate (0.24) and a positivity rate (3%). However, its average daily attack rate remains at “low” risk with 1.40 per 100,000 population, OCTA said.
As for neighboring areas of the NCR, OCTA said seven of the 12 provinces in Central Luzon and Calabarzon are already at “very low” risk. These are Aurora, Bulacan, Laguna, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal, and Zambales.
Still at “low risk” classification are Bataan, Batangas, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año urged the public to religiously follow minimum public health standards so that no surge will occur.
“Let us not get carried away by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions to Alert Level 1. If we want to stay under Alert Level 1, let us continue following the MPHS (minimum public health standards) because this is how we contribute to further decrease coronavirus infections in our country,” said Año, a key member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases,
OCTA fellow Guido David earlier warned of a surge in COVID-19 infections if people will ignore health protocols, citing as example the experience of other countries.
Año urged local government units (LGUs) to ensure that minimum health protocols are consistently enforced in their areas.
“We call on our LGUs to still be on top of the implementation of MPHS even in the barangays. Let us not allow the people to disregard our health protocols even if a large number of our population is already vaccinated (against COVID-19),” said Año.
As of March 7, about 63.8 million Filipinos or 71.467 percent of the targeted eligible population have been fully vaccinated, including 10.6 million who have received booster shots. — With Victor Reyes
