Dr. Ted Herbosa of the National COVID-19 Task Force is urging the country’s hospital administrators to “surge” their capacities alongside the resurgence in COVID-19 cases due to new highly- transmissible but less-deadly coronavirus variants.
“We have been seeing hospitals nearing their full capacities, particularly in Department of Health facilities and the private hospitals are not far behind,” Herbosa told in a recent breakfast forum.
Herbosa said containing and decimating the virus is not just the concern of healthcare workers—who are the most at- risk sector in this pandemic—but would entail the collaboration and cooperation of all sectors, especially individual Filipinos to continue with the minimum health protocols and to avoid leaving the house, if not necessary.
“We cannot act like we are in control of the virus. COVID-19 is prevalent and more vigorous so we should not let our guards down,” Herbosa said.
The UP OCTA Research Group reported that last Tuesday COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, the virus epicenter, climbed faster than expected.
Guido David, OCTA Research fellow, said the actual cases are now beating their projections for the National Capital Region.
The reproduction number—or the number of people that one COVID-19 positive case can infect—in Metro Manila is 1.8, when the goal is to keep it at below 1 to contain the transmission until the vaccines become available.
Similarly, Herbosa called for a more vigorous inoculation for health workers, who are at the front lines in the batter against coronavirus, considering that the new variants are more contagious than the original COVID strain.
COVID-19 is spreading fastest in Pasay City where the new South African variant was first detected in the Philippines.
Total cases of the South African variant is now at 52 and 31 for the UK variant.
The daily positivity rate—or the percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed that are positive—hit 9.16 percent last March 3, reported Rappler adding that for the fourth straight day until March 8, COVID-19 cases lodged hit 3,000.
The latest OCTA report noted that the Philippines breached the 600,000 mark in cases as the health department reported 2,678 new infections last March 8 pushing the total to 600,428 cases and the death toll at 12,528. Recoveries grew by 171 to 546,078.
The DoH attributed the surge to the complacency of many Filipinos and forgetting the mandatory practices of proper use of face shields and masks, physical distancing and regular handwashing or disinfecting with alcohol.
OCTA warned that if the surge in cases is not managed, the Philippines may see 6,000 new cases daily by March 31.
Metro Manila has been seeing 1,925 cases per day in the past week, or an increase of 42 percent. Compared to two weeks ago, the new infections rate increased by 130 percent, the rate witnessed in July 2020, the OCTA said adding that this trend has been evident in the NCR and may affect some LGUs in the region. Unlike the past surges, the current one has spread very quickly in such a short period.
The OCTA monitoring report as of March 7, showed that hospital occupancies due to COVID-19 were highest at: Makati (93 percent); Lapu Lapu (73 percent); Quezon City and Malabon (63 percent each);Mandaue (62 percent);Paranaque and Taguig (60 percent); Baguio City and Caloocan City (59 percent); Pasay City (57 percent); Cebu City (54) and Marikina (47 percent).
High-risk areas based on attack rates are Pasay, Makati, Malabon and Navotas. Pasay had “very high” rate at 30 (new cases) per 100,000 people daily attack rate while Malabon and Navotas have slowed down.
Measures that could slow down these attack rates are implementing localized lockdowns and stricter border controls. The OCTA also urged the government to deploy efficiently vaccines this month, prioritizing healthcare workers.
While the surge in COVID-19 cases in the NCR is a serious cause for concern, it is still in the early stages and “we believe it can still be mitigated and reversed.
We need to act as one and to act now while the situation in NCR is still manageable.