DOH advises Nazarene feast attendees to isolate themselves if symptoms appear

The Department of Health on Sunday advised devotees who attended the Black Nazarene Feast in Quiapo, Manila on Saturday to isolate themselves should symptoms appear.

"Kapag dumalaw sa celebration, after 3 to 5 days kapag may sintomas kayo ay mag-isolate at mag-report sa kanilang quarantine sa barangay," DOH Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

"Mga debotong dumalo sa Traslacion kahapon, dapat bantayan ang kanilang kalusugan," he added.

Vega said the DOH took note of the fact that in some areas near Quiapo Church, social distancing was not observed by devotees.

"Generally ang dumating sa amin, generally peaceful and safe sa labas at loob ng Quiapo Church. Ang nagkaroon ng problema ay malayo sa simbahan," he added.

Based on the assessment of Quiapo Church officials, however, the devotees who flocked to the church on Saturday for the Black Nazarene Feast did their best to follow protocols set amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Hindi naman talaga intensyon ng mga deboto na lumabag. Hindi naman po talaga nagdikit-dikit," he added.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) acting director Brigadier General Vicente Danao Jr. on Saturday said the Feast of the Black Nazarene was generally peaceful.

However, he said that as devotees continued to arrive, the one-meter social distancing rule was barely being followed.

“Hindi lang po maiwasan na ‘yung violation ng minimum health standards at protocol ay medyo nava-violate po kaya naman sa ibang mga areas talagang sobrang nagdikit-dikit na,” Danao said.

The OCTA Research team said this year's Black Nazarene feast, albeit without the Traslacion or the annual procession of the life-sized image of the dark-skinned Jesus Christ carrying the cross, was a "superspreader" event amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Estimates by police of the number of attendees on Saturday ranged from 300,000 to almost 500,000.

Asked whether or not the Feast of the Black Nazarene is a “super-spreader” event, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said, “We won’t know until cases are identified and analyzed.”

New variant

Meanwhile, Vega said no new variant of the coronavirus has so far been detected in the Philippines.

"Nagte-test na ng mga sample ang Philippine Genome Center pero so far wala silang nakitang bagong variant," he said.

"Itong bagong variant, the same safeguards pa rin naman ang ating gagawin. Patuloy pa rin tayong susunod at ipapatupad ang mga health protocols," he added.

"Ang kailangan, mahigpit na pagpapatupad ng health protocols at mahigpit na pagbabantay sa mga may sintomas at sa kanilang mga contact," Vega said.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 485,797 on Saturday.

Of this number, 449,615 recovered while 9,398 died. —KG, GMA News