HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday said the government is prepared for a potential surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases now that the National Capital Region (NCR) and 38 other areas are under Alert Level 1.
In a television interview, Duque said the DOH did a complete analysis of the possibilities and projections before it recommended the shift to the least restrictive alert level in several parts of the Philippines.
“We are prepared for the worst-case scenario. Before we decided to de-escalate, we made an analysis of the capacity of the health care system of the country, regionally, locally, provincial, by cities,” said Duque.
“Will there be no more surges in the future? No, we cannot say that. In fact, part of the realization is that there can still be surges. But are we ready to manage? Yes, that’s a fact that we have already adopted,” he added.
To control any increase in cases, Duque said the government will continue to impose granular lockdowns in areas with high number of COVID infections.
“Lockdowns remain available. It’s a component of our alert leveling system. Instead of one spread community lockdown, we shifted to granular lockdowns, targeted response. We will continue to adopt this measure if and when the measure calls for it. When there is a surge in an area, that’s the time a lockdown can be imposed,” he said.
The PNP said 138 areas are under granular lockdown as of Tuesday, mostly in the Ilocos region which has 76 areas under lockdown. The Cordillera Administrative Region has 42 locked down areas, NCR has 19 and Central Luzon has one.
Duque said government will come out with the “new normal” road map by next week, which will detail a comprehensive strategy for various sectors on how to “live with the virus”.
“This is something we would launch as soon as all the inputs from the different sectors have been submitted. This is really a very comprehensive map on the shifting to the new normal,” he said.
Metro Manila and 38 other areas shifted to Alert Level 1 on March 1. Under this level,
industries, establishments, and public transportation are already allowed full operating/seating/venue capacity.
The Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday said more than 4,300 public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide have resumed holding limited face-to-face classes.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, during the Laging Handa public briefing, said these schools are part of the 6,145 schools nationwide that have been found eligible and ready to hold face-to-face classes after passing the Schools Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT) done by the DepEd and the Department of Health (DOH).
DepEd data showed 4,371 schools are now implementing limited face-to-face classes since its pilot study from November to December 2021.
Meanwhile at the Senate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III has allowed members of the media to already enter the Senate building to physically cover committee hearings and other events starting March 4.
“Members of the media are allowed (starting) on Friday. Some in the gallery, some in (the) media room. All [should observe] social distancing. Bring vaccination card or RT-PCR test 48 hours before [entering the Senate building] or negative antigen test taken the same day,” Sotto said in a message to the media.
Meanwhile, the PNP said 4,209 individuals were accosted on Tuesday during the first day of implementation of the Alert Level 1 in Metro Manila.
The PNP said the individuals were caught violating minimum public health standards (MPHS), which includes wearing of face mask and observance of physical distancing.
Of the violators, 3,046 were merely warned, 861 were fined and 302 were brought to police stations for filing of charges.
Nationwide, a total of 21,808 violators were accosted on Tuesday – 19,855 for violation of MPHS; 1,762 for curfew violation; and 191 non-authorized persons outside residence or non-APORs. — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Raymond Africa and Victor Reyes
