WITH physical distancing the recipients’ least worry during mass vaccination and cash assistance distribution activities, the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday warned that such events may turn into “super spreaders.”
In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are worried that there would be high transmission of the coronavirus among persons queueing either to get vaccinated or receive the cash aid, especially those in crowded areas and in enclosed spaces.
“This is a possible super spreader event,” Vergeire said, explaining that a super spreader event is defined as instances where transmitting a communicable disease to an unusually large number of people takes place.
Vergeire said they have already raised their concerns with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
She said they believe it would be better if local government units adopt a more systematic way of distributing cash assistance or administering the vaccines.
“We also reminded our LGUs to implement proper scheduling so that they won’t crowd the venues,” she added.
Currently, LGUs are conducting mass COVID-19 immunization program for healthcare workers, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities.
Parallel to it, local governments are also doing the distribution of the government cash assistance to qualified individuals.
Vergeire said the DOH has yet to observe any decline in COVID-19 cases in the country despite the imposition of the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.
“We are not seeing a reduction in cases. We are still averaging 10,000 to 11,000 cases per day. We foresee that this may still persist in the coming days,” said Vergeire, even as she said that the health department is not expecting any surge in cases in the next few months, particularly in June or July.
She also said while the clustering of cases is still found mostly in communities, the DOH has also recently observed the clustering of infections in workplaces and closer institutions.
“The number of transmissions happening in workplaces has increased, especially in hospitals and offices,” she said. — With Christian Oineza
