DOH: Philippines 'more prepared' to manage COVID-19 cases a year into health crisis
MANILA, Philippines — A year after the World Health Organization declared a coronavirus pandemic, the Philippines is now “more prepared” to handle the public health crisis that has upended the lives of millions, the Department of Health said.
“We have improved so much,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing Friday.
The pandemic has claimed more than 12,000 lives in the country, threw millions out of work, and plunged the economy to its worst contraction since World War II.
When COVID-19 cases surged in July and August last year following the easing of movement restrictions, hospitals were overwhelmed and medical frontliners had limited options for the treatment of COVID-19 cases, Vergeire said.
But now, there are more treatment options, and doctors and nurses are more accustomed to managing cases. “We see that our healthcare workers are now more experienced in handling COVID-19 cases,” Vergeire said in Filipino.
The country’s case fatality rate is 2.08%. This is below the global case fatality rate of nearly 2.22%
What about the health system?
The health official also said the allocation of beds for both public and private hospitals has improved. She cited the implementation of the One Hospital Command System.
Under the system, which was launched last August, mildly-ill patients and those who show no symptoms will be transferred to temporary treatment monitoring facilities to ensure there are enough hospital beds for severe and moderate coronavirus cases.
As of March 10, 35% out of the 28,362 beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients were occupied.
But Jose Rene De Grano, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines president said in an interview with ABS-CBN Channel that hospitals could reach full capacity within three to four weeks if the surge in COVID-19 cases continues.
Vergeire also cited there are now over 200 COVID-19 testing laboratories across the country.
“Looking at all of these, we can say we have prepared our health system although we are not saying it’s already perfect. Looking at that after one year, I think we’re now more prepared to handle and manage cases of COVID-19,” she said.
What’s happening now?
Early this week, Malacañang said the government’s response to the pandemic has been “excellent.”
The assessments of the Palace and the DOH come as the country battles a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The Philippines recorded Thursday 3,749 additional infections, the biggest single-day rise in nearly six months.
The DOH said the public’s failure to comply with minimum health protocols is the “underlying cause” of the increase in cases. It also said the presence of more transmissible variants is aggravating the situation.
To stem the transmission, local governments in Metro Manila opted to reimpose night-time curfews for two weeks beginning March 15. Municipalities and cities are also implementing targeted lockdowns in virus hotspots.
Similar to the start of the crisis in the Philippines, the Department of the Interior and Local Government directed local governments and the police to conduct "a crackdown on quarantine violators."
The uptick in COVID-19 cases comes as the government slowly rolls out COVID-19 vaccines to medical frontliners after several delays. However, widespread vaccinations will not start until later in the year when most of the vaccines are expected to arrive.
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