continue in
Metro Manila and four nearby provinces.
FOLLOWING the actions that government initiated when the NCR (National Capital Region) Plus was placed under two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III on Tuesday said the next few weeks will be “crucial” in efforts to avoid a cycle of repeated lockdowns in key regions.
He said they aim to “institutionalize sustainable and long-term response strategies” to help ensure that “we will no longer need to return to ECQ in the future.”
With the shift of the NCR Plus from ECQ to modified ECQ effective April 12, Duque said the Department of Health (DOH), together with the rest of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), and the National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF), shall continue addressing the high hospital occupancy rates that were caused by surging Covid-19 infections.
Over the next two weeks, the DOH and NTF vowed to continue to monitor and work with the Local Government Units (LGUs) to reach specific targets in addressing two key issues: increasing cases and hospital occupancies.
Covid cases
The total number of Covid-19 cases stood at 884,783 after 8,571 additional cases were logged on Tuesday.
There were also 400 recoveries and 137 deaths.
Of the total number of cases, 18.7 percent (165,534) are active, 79.6 percent (703,963) have recovered and 1.73 percent (15,286) have died.
At least 54 cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.
Nine laboratories were not able to submit their data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System on April 12, 2021.
Contact tracing
With the sustained high count of cases, the DOH and NTF committed to reduce the duration of infectiousness of cases through increased contact tracing efficiency and strengthened active case finding via testing at the community level, which can help reduce new infections.
Contact Tracing Czar Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology will support contact tracing efforts through supplementation of around 27,672 contact tracers in the NCR Plus bubble, and by putting in place an automatic contact tracing system using text messaging (SMS).
Meanwhile, despite the country’s testing output nearly doubling—a weekly average of 52,565 tests from April 4-10, and reaching a high of 63,839 tests conducted last April 8—the government will distribute rapid antigen test kits to LGUs to ensure quick detection of cases.
Expanded capacities
In decongesting hospitals, the DOH said that through Treatment Czar Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega and the One Hospital Command Center, Level 1-Level 3 hospitals in NCR continue to be augmented by medical personnel from the DOH, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, among others.
A total of 136 health-care workers (HCWs) from Visayas and Mindanao were deployed by DOH to different facilities in Metro Manila.
Over the next week, the DOH and NTF shall activate new Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMFs) and facilitate the expansion of hotels serving as isolation facilities—this means additional 1,700-plus beds that can cater to mild, asymptomatic and recovering Covif-19 patients.
Six TTMFs will be activated between April 12 and 16: Subic Manila Times College (300 beds), New Clark City (165 beds), Eva Macapagal (200 beds), Orion Bataan (100 beds), National Center for Mental Health (1,000 beds), and other LGU-managed isolation facilities constructed in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and other private groups.
These are on top of Oplan Kalinga’s addition of 280 beds for healthcare workers, additional 20 beds in National Kidney and Transplant Institute, additional 88 beds for the Modular Hospital at the Lung Center of the Philippines, and the additional 110-bed at the recently opened Quezon Institute.
All in all, a total of 3, 436 beds were added to NCR Plus following the declaration of ECQ and MECQ.
DOH is also working with LGUs to set up triaging facilities near major hospitals to ensure efficient referral and transfer of patients, while private sector partners vowed to help the government augment hospital capacities by expanding ICU capacities in select hospitals.
MPHS compliance
Meanwhile, the DOH and NTF are working with the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Labor and Employment and the private sector to enforce compliance with Minimum Public Health Standards (MPHS) in industries and workplaces.
The Civil Service Commission ensures compliance in government offices.
Meanwhile, the IATF affirmed private sector participation in the National Vaccine Deployment Program in order to augment the vaccine rollout.
The NTF is expected to issue operational guidelines on the procurement of vaccines for procuring entities, such as the LGU and the private sector, pursuant to the IRR of RA 11525.
“The government is utilizing a whole-of-nation, whole-of-society approach wherein all sectors of society must come together and work hand-in-hand in order to address the many challenges brought about by this pandemic,” NTF Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez said.
Image credits: Roy Domingo
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