MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday morning signed Proclamation 922 declaring a state of public health emergency throughout the country amid the worsening novel coronavirus (COVID-19) scare.
That same day, the Department of Health confirmed four more patients carrying the pathogen, bringing the national total to 10 confirmed patients.
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Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also confirmed the local transmission of COVID-19 in the
wake of the string of new cases.
With the proclamation, the DOH may call upon the Philippine National Police (PNP) "and other law enforcement agencies to provide
assistance" in addressing the threat of the virus.
All government agencies, local government units
are enjoined to render all
assistance needed while
citizens and tourists are urged to "act within the bounds of law and comply with lawful directives."
The declaration facilitates the mobilization of resources, the intensifying of quarantine measures and ease of processes, while a "code red" alert means that all hospital personnel
are required to report for duty in their respective facilities to provide medical services.
BREAKING NEWS: President Rodrigo Duterte signs Proclamation No. 922 declaring a state of public health emergency throughout the
Phl
due to COVID-19. | via @alexisbromero pic
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) March 9, 2020.twitter.com/
FwZLdMPXVW
Under Republic Act 11332—the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act—a public health emergency refers to an “occurrence of an imminent threat of an illness or health condition which could pose a high probability of
a large number of deaths… widespread exposure to an infectious agent.”
Other initiatives
The World Health Organization (WHO) praised the measures undertaken by the DOH in its surveillance of the novel coronavirus scare in the Philippines.
This came after Duque, at the
Laging Handa press briefing that day, bared the department's protocols after the chief executive's proclamation.
"We need to respect the local chief executives decision to suspend classes," Duque asserted.
The Health secretary cited the following measures:
- Recommending Levels 2 and 3 hospitals to open triage areas in their emergency rooms for testing of COVID-19
- All Level 2 and 3 hospitals directed to attend to patients suspected and confirmed and with symptoms
Only severe at critical cases shall be referred to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, San Lazaro Hospital and Lung Center of the Philippines
- DOH will
be disclosing hospital names to combat fake news
- DOH will
be requesting testing kits from China
"As much as 80% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 are mild," he said, though he admitted that a large part of the data used was coming from China and WHO.
The DOH earlier assured the public that 98% of COVID-19 patients eventually fully recover.
READ: 'Not a death sentence': DOH says 98% of nCoV patients get better
"Hospitals have infection prevention so there is no need to avoid going to these hospitals especially if you feel unwell," Duque said.
He also bared that the department already begun coordinating with the NDRRMC.
As of this writing, there are
a total of 105,586 patients in the world while there are 10 confirmed cases in the Philippines.
Dr. Rabindra
Abeyasinghe, the WHO's country director for the Philippines assured the public: "We can still control the spread of this disease and prevent it from being a global pandemic."
At the same media briefing,
Abeyasinghe urged the public not to go to work or school if they were exhibiting any respiratory symptoms linked to COVID-19.
For his part
, Duque assured the public that the transmission of the virus should not be a cause for concern as long as there was no history of exposure to patients, travel history to restricted areas and existing signs and symptoms.
"
Unknowingly, still, the mode of transmission is respiratory droplets. So this is still a very limited distance within which the droplets may land on the surface. That could randomly transmit the virus. Kung
mga casual na
daanan,
hindi
dapat mag-
alala. You don't have to be alarmed," Duque said.
Update on fifth patient
Asked about the status of the fifth patient, a 62-year-old Filipino man, the Health secretary said the case was "guarded."
"This is a critical case. The elderly individual male has
pre-existing medical condition like hypertension, diabetes, among others," Duque said.
"We're doing everything to save the life of this patient, but for critical cases,
the time it takes for them to recover is extended. So he will stay in the hospital.
Hopefully in the coming days we will see improvements."
LIST: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines
According to Duque, existing data on patients of the virus shows that highest fatality is among males over 70 with underlying health conditions.
Duque also said that contact tracing for the man, who was a regular at a Muslim prayer hall in San Juan, was still ongoing. "
Nagpapatuloy
po
ito, but that has
been done. We're trying to get the leaders of that group to be more cooperative," he said.