THE Department of Health on Wednesday said it is expecting an increase in the number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the next few days as results of tests conducted on repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are trickling in.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the jump from an average of 230 cases in the past two weeks to 350 on Tuesday can be attributed to the release of the results of tests on OFWs who have been involuntarily overstaying in government quarantine facilities.
“This (jump) was caused by the tests done on OFWs, whose results are already coming into our data system,” said Vergeire. “So we expect that, in the coming days, this will be the trend because we are now including the OFWs, who tested positive for COVID-19.”
Vergeire stressed not all new cases involve OFWs. “They just contributed to the new cases reported daily as majority of cases are still from the National Capital Region,” she said.
On Monday, Malacañang said President Duterte has given government agencies a week to get some 24,000 OFWs home. A number of OFWs said they have completed the 14-day mandatory quarantine but they have not been issued a certification about the completion. They also complained about long-overdue test results.
The certificate and the test results would allow them to leave the quarantine facilities and go home to their provinces.
Earlier this month, the national government also opened four mega swabbing centers in a bid to hasten the process of testing OFWs for COVID-19.
COVID TOLL UPDATE
From 350 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, 380 new infections were reported by the DOH on Wednesday, bringing the total to 15,049.
The number of fatalities also rose by 18 to 904.
There were 94 new patients who have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,506.
Worldwide, the virus that first emerged in China late last year has killed at least 5.4 million people in 216 countries and territories, and killed some 343,500 persons as of May 26, according to the World Health Organization.
Among Filipinos abroad, 29 more were reported infected and six others have died, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The new cases brought to 2,664 the number of infected Filipinos in 47 countries and to 334 the total fatalities.
Twenty-five new recoveries were also reported, raising the total to 930, including the 25 new recoveries yesterday recorded in Europe, Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Europe still retained the highest number of Filipinos infected with the virus at 801 with 90 deaths, followed by the Middle East and Africa with 757 cases and 92 deaths, Americas with 633 cases and 150 deaths and the Asia-Pacific region with 473 cases and two deaths.
EXTENDED LAB OPERATIONS
Aside from the entry of OFW test results, also expected to lead to an increase in cases daily is the continued ramping up of the country’s testing capacity.
According to Vergeire, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has ordered all laboratories accredited by the government to operate for the entire week.
Forty-four laboratories have been accredited by the DOH to conduct COVID-19 testing.
“Secretary Duque already issued an instruction that all laboratories must no longer have day-offs in their operations,” said Vergeire.
She said the DOH has also set a target number of COVID-19 tests that must be met by each laboratory daily.
“We gave each laboratory a target so that we can see their testing progress, and they all committed to ramp up their testing capacities,” said Vergeire.
She said the directive was issued after the DOH noticed a decrease in the number of daily testing output to only about 5,000 in recent days, much less than the average of 8,500 to 9,500 last week.
“We are seeing a downward trend. One of the main issues is the supply as some of our laboratories lack supplies these past days. There were also eight private laboratories not operating on Sundays,” noted Vergeire.
CONTACT TRACERS
Vergeire said the DOH is also looking to enhance its contact tracing efforts by hiring about 95,000 contact tracers in the coming days. Qualifications will be released in the coming days.
“The 95,000 we need, we will be asking local government units to help us in finding additional contact tracers,” said Vergeire.
The DOH currently has 38,000 contact tracers.
“Based on our standard, we need one contact tracer per 800 people in the population,” Vergeire said.
The move comes after WHO acting representative to the Philippines Dr. Socorro Escalante described the country’s contact tracing efforts as “slow.”
Contact tracing is the identification and follow-up of persons who may have come in close contact with a COVID-19 case. It aims to interrupt transmission of the disease and reduce the spread of infection; to alert close contacts to the possibility of infection and offer preventive care; and to understand the epidemiology of a disease in a particular population.
INMATES
The Department of Justice said 161 inmates and 33 jail personnel of the Bureau of Corrections have been infected by COVID-19 since its outbreak in the country in February.
Data provided by the BuCor to the DOJ showed six inmates have died while eight have recovered. Of the 33 BuCor personnel, three have recovered.
Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said among the prison and penal colonies operated by the BuCor, the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City registered the highest number of infected inmates and jail personnel, at 82 and 26, respectively.
The Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City has 79 inmates and five personnel with COVID-19.
There is no confirmed COVID case at the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, but 19 inmates are suspect cases, Perete said.
Perete said no COVID-19 case has been reported in the four other prison and penal colonies operated by the BuCor — Abuyog Penal Colony in Leyte, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte.
Perete also said a second batch of 1,500 rapid test kits will be delivered to the BuCor this week for the use of the inmates. “More are expected in the coming weeks,” he said.
TRICYCLE DRIVERS
The Mandaluyong City government said 255 tricycle drivers tested positive for COVID-19 but assured residents that those drivers working now are virus-free.
Mayor Menchie Abalos said the 255 drivers are from the Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODA) which has some 4,000 members.
Another 4,000 drivers are scheduled to undergo rapid testing this and the following week. — With Ashzel Hachero and Christian Oineza
