Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday assured the public that the government was up to the task of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought even the most powerful nation in the world to tears.
At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Duque said 2020 was the most difficult year for the Department of Health as the country came to grips with the pandemic and a global supply shortage for personal protective equipment (PPE).
While anti-COVID-19 vaccination programs are already under way in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Singapore, the best case scenario for the Philippines is that vaccines will be available only by March or April 2021.
Duque, however, said the government is up to the unprecedented challenges.
He said the country has now 11,000 temporary treatment and monitoring facilities equipped with 170,000 beds, 191 testing laboratories, a testing capacity of 34,000 to 35,000 individuals per day, COVID-19 beds at 23,000 and is eyeing to secure 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from various manufacturers by 2021.
“We continue to develop our capacity in prevention and solutions,” Duque said.
Duque, however, conceded that despite a downward trend in the past few months, the cases experienced a surge during the holiday season, particularly in eight to nine cities in National Capital Region, which registered a higher attack rate.
But he said the country should be able to curb these cases with observance of minimum health standards of wearing face masks, face shields and observing physical distancing.
“We are not defenseless,” Duque said.
A surge in COVID-19 cases will be noticeable during the first two weeks of January because of increased interactions during the holidays, a researcher who tracks the pandemic said.
Ranjit Rye of the OCTA Research Team said there was no doubt that cases would rise again because of the holiday interactions, and that these would be manifest during the first two weeks of January.
He said the pandemic would remain manageable if the number of daily cases fell below 2,000 a day. More than that and it would put a strain on hospitals, Rye said.
The Philippines logged on Thursday 1,776 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 465,724, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
Top cities and provinces with new cases are Quezon City, 128; Davao City, 121; Rizal Province, 94; Western Samar, 57; and Bulacan, 56.
The DOH reported seven new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 9,055, which is 1.94 percent of the total cases.
The DOH also reported 533 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 430,490.
This left 26,179 active cases, which is 5.6 percent of the total cases.
Of the active cases, 81.4 percent are mild; 10.3 percent are asymptomatic; 5.2 percent are critical; 2.7 percent are severe; and 0.34 percent are moderate.
Duque on Thursday urged all laboratories in the countries to stay open over the Christmas holidays.
“I urge all laboratories to continue operations during the holidays and aid the government in meeting the increased testing demand that comes with the observed increase in cases,” said Duque in a statement on Christmas eve.
On Wednesday, Duque inspected Taguig establishments to see if malls complied with minimum health protocols against COVID-19.
In making his rounds in an area of Bonifacio Global City, Duque held a stick to personally measure the distance between customers.
“Physical distancing should not be less than a meter,” Duque reminded customers.
Duque said the new coronavirus strain reported in the United Kingdom has not yet entered the Philippines, based on the DOH’s monitoring.
The new variant is believed to be more contagious and distinct from the earlier ones, according to UK scientists.
“There is no evidence that the new strain is here in the country. The PGC is currently studying the virus strains of our COVID-19 patients,” he said.
Local experts have not detected any mutation of the coronavirus that can cause more severe symptoms, he added.
As festivities build up for the rest of the month, the Health chief urged the elderly to continue to stay in their homes, as they are the coronavirus’ “favorite target.”
He also advised shoppers to plan their trips to the malls, grocery and other establishments, and make a list of items to purchase to limit time spent in these establishments and reduce their chance of contracting COVID-19.
Duque is scheduled to do hospital rounds after Dec. 25, to inspect protocols and COVID-19 response capacity, the DOH said.
A minority leader in the House of Representatives, meanwhile, urged the Duterte administration to secure enough effective, safe and cost efficient vaccinesto vaccinate all those who need it and to prevent exclusion of vulnerable sectors such as education front liners.
Assistant Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said teachers should be included among the priorities in the distribution of vaccines.
Teachers perform the vital function of educating the youth, thus their good health and well-being must be guaranteed by the state, she said.