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WHO backs granular lockdown in PH but…

September 7, 2021 Lee Ann P. Ducusin 343 views

THE World Health Organization yesterday backed supports the government’s decision to impose granular lockdowns to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 but reminded that the Philippines has to have better validated data.

WHO Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said moving from a very stringent quarantine to more relaxed quarantine to very granular lockdowns, is something that the WHO advocates and supports, however, the granular lockdowns should be prompted by accurate and up-to-date data.

“It is critically important that we have validated up to date information on patient numbers, testing, positivity rates, on severity of disease, on the clusters of cases. Where are the clusters? Where do you do the granular lockdowns? Because oftentimes we hear of granular lockdowns happening where people are residing with no investigation where transmissions are happening. It is important to focus on where transmission is happening,” he stressed.

Abeyasinghe also pointed to the need to strengthen the country’s contact tracing system, which he said is the weakest link in the Philippines’ COVID response efforts, since accurate data can only be generated through good, strong contact tracing.

Malacanang announced on Monday that Metro Manila will be under general community quarantine from September 8 to 30, but granular lockdowns will be pilot tested beginning Wednesday, Sept. 8.

The National Capital Region was previously placed under enhanced community quarantine, the strictest quarantine classification, from Aug. 6 to 20 amid the surge of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant.

The quarantine classification has been downgraded to modified ECQ (MECQ) which will be in effect until Sept. 7. MECQ partially allows non-essential services to operate.

Abeyasinghe said the Philippines has achieved “significant progress” in its battle against COVID-19, noting the addition of more ICU beds and the rollout of the vaccination program.

However, he said the key to combatting the highly transmissible Delta variant, which is becoming the dominant variant of the coronavirus globally, is to inoculate as many people as possible and to expand the capacities of healthcare facilities.

The WHO country representative also said said access to oxygen must be ensured and the country should further increase its testing capacity.

The Philippines on Monday logged its highest number of cases since COVID began with 22,415 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the country’s total caseload to 2,103,331.

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