The Department of Health on Monday warned the public against caroling as loud singing increases the risk of coronavirus transmission.
The agency earlier released guidelines on holiday celebrations and urged limited face-to-face activities.
It has yet to decide whether to permit caroling, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
"A study was released this past week that states singing loudly is the topmost activity that can yield the most virus,” she told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.
"That being said, let's avoid this kind of activity so that we can prevent further increasing the transmission of infection,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire also urged the public to practice minimum health standards such as wearing face masks and face shields and frequent hand washing even when around relatives.
Vigilance needed
As the Christmas holiday approaches and quarantine restrictions lighten in different parts of the country, DOH reiterated their warning on Monday for the public against holding and attending in-person gatherings and different kinds of celebrations which might increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
In DOH’s weekly kapihan with the media on November 5, DOH revisited specific risk factors that contribute to the spread of the disease and called on the public to continue complying with the standard health protocols that protect them from infection.
“Let us limit the number of people in social gatherings and activities, preferably to people within the same household. Avoid activities that require travel to areas with higher quarantine classification and keep activities as short as possible,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a statement Monday.
Crowding risks
To begin economic recovery, the government has recently begun allowing certain businesses and establishments to resume operations.
Minors are also now allowed to engage in certain activities outside their houses which can be related to schoolwork, playtime, and shopping but preferably with parental oversight.
What concerns the DOH is the crowding that happens in events attended by numerous people especially during the holiday season.
The more these individuals interact and the longer the interaction lasts, the higher their risk of contracting COVID-19. Large in-person gatherings where it is difficult to maintain physical distancing of one-meter are considered high risk.
Price range
The Interagency Task Force in Infectious Emerging Diseases (IATF-IED) is poised to announce Tuesday the price range for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test to rationalize the cost of swabbing.
Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said the government convened all companies and stakeholders Monday to agree on a price range.
“We have finalized the guidelines over the weekend. We want to do have this implemented asap,” he said Monday.
Meanwhile, the government is optimistic to introduce a first batch of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine before the year ends, Lopez said, without releasing more details.
Clinical trials
Lopez said the Philippine continued to engage in bilateral negotiations with countries that, allegedly, have the know-how to produce vaccines.
At the same time, clinical trials for the Russian COVID-19 vaccine continue and the DTI is prepared to use the technology offered by Russian research firm Gemalaya Center and from other innovators.
Clinical trials in the Philippines involved a few hundreds of participants aged between 18 and 60 years old.
The proposal is a three-way collaboration among the Gamaleya Center, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Philippine government.
Gamaleya is one of the world’s leading research institutions that has successfully created the world’s first Ebola virus vaccine while RDIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Russia dedicated to finance research and developmental causes.
COVID updates
The Philippines logged 2,058 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 398,449, as nine laboratories failed to submit reports, DOH said.
Nine labs were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Data Repository System on November 8, 2020, DOH said.
The top cities and provinces for new cases are Rizal, 103; Davao City, 81; Maguindanao, 81; Quezon City, 77; and Cavite, 76.
There are a total of 29,018 active cases, or 7.3 percent of the total number of cases.
DOH also reported 182 new recoveries, bringing the total to 361,784 total recoveries, or 90.8 percent of the total number of cases.
DOH also reported 108 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 7,647 or 1.92 percent of the total cases.
Vaccine roadmap
Meanwhile, Secretary Carlito Galvez presented the Philippine National Vaccine Roadmap which has been approved by the IATF. In this presentation, the vaccine czar and IATF chief implementer elaborated on the seven key stages of the COVID-19 vaccine roadmap for the Philippines and the corresponding departments that will lead each phase.
Additionally, Galvez stressed that setting this roadmap will hopefully accelerate the deployment of the vaccines when they are finally available.
According to Galvez, the most critical stage was the beginning phase of the roadmap, which involved the scientific evaluation and selection of the vaccines. The DOH and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) are leading this phase.
Different stages
The next stage is equally important as it will increase the chances of acquisition of the vaccines. The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Finance are in charge of this second stage, which is called the “Access of Acquisition” or “Guarantee of Access” stage.
The third stage, led by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management and DOF, and supervised by the TaskGroup Resource Management & Logistics, entails the procurement process which ensures that vaccine acquisition and development is both cost-effective and time-efficient.
This stage focuses on the organized and safe production, shipment, and storage of vaccines which will guarantee the safe handling of the vaccines.
Stage five, which consists of the distribution and deployment of vaccines, will also be handled by PS-DBM and TGRML, while stage six focuses on the nationwide implementation of the vaccination plan which will be a collaboration among the DOH, national and local government agencies, and the local government units.
Lastly, DOH, DOST, and the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health will manage and oversee the assessment, evaluation, and monitoring of the vaccine rollout to the public.