OCTA experts urge access to COVID-19 testing for families displaced by storms

The OCTA Research Team has asked the authorities to provide adequate and accessible testing, effective contact tracing and supportive isolation facilities to families who fled to evacuation centers due to the recent typhoons.

In its report for the period November 9 to 15, the experts from the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas also urged local government units to improve strategies and conditions at evacuation centers to ensure COVID-19 is not transmitted among residents displaced by the typhoon and flooding.

These include social distancing, the wearing of face masks and face shields.

"Given the reality that more typhoons are set to visit the country in the coming weeks, we suggest that LGUs seriously consider improving their current evacuation strategies and plans to prevent further viral transmissions during a disaster by ensuring that minimum health standards are followed in evacuation centers apart from the provision of adequate and accessible  testing, effective contact tracing and supportive isolation facilities to families stranded in these facilities," the OCTA researchers said.

Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses have caused widespread damage in Bicol and Southern Tagalog causing thousands to flee their homes.

The release of water from Magat Dam last week also caused massive flooding in the Cagayan Valley, prompting residents to go up to their roofs before they were rescued and taken to evacuaion centers.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has said the transmission of COVID-19 in evacuation centers was a "very strong possibility" after Typhoon Ulysses rendered the "stay at home" pandemic response policy impossible for many Filipino families.

During a briefing with other government agencies involved in Typhoon Ulysses response, Duque advised the local government units and emergency responders to observe minimum health standards to avoid the spread of the virus among the evacuees.

The latest report pointed out that the COVID-19 positivity rate in Metro Manila has gone down to to 4%, meeting the World Health Organization recommendation that the positivity rate remain below 5%.

"A significant finding of this monitoring report is  the continued decline in the positivity rate in the NCR which is now at 4% (down from 5%)," the OCTA team said.

Based on the latest data from the Department of Health (DOH), the experts' calculations of the reproduction number in the Philippines decreased to 0.81 (from .87)  and remained below 1 for the period from November 9 to 15.

It added that the reproduction number reproduction rate in the NCR likewise decreased to 0.71 (from .82) and remained below 1 for the period from November 9 to 15.

"Hospital occupancy for total regular or ICU covid-19 beds remains below the critical levels for most of the LGUs in the NCR," the report said.

"Be that as it may, the epicenter for the virus is still the NCR. But outbreaks have occurred all around the country," it added.

For the monitoring period November 9 to 15, the following LGUs have been determined to be high-risk.

NCR

• Makati

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Luzon

• Baguio City
• La Trinidad and Itogon (Benguet)
• Batangas City (Batangas)
• Lucena and Lopez (Quezon)

Mindanao

• Davao City (Davao del Sur)
• Pagadian (Zamboanga Del Sur)

Baguio City and Davao City were deemed as LGUs under urgent concern.

"We list LGUs of concern or high-risk areas based on high cases per day, high positivity rate, high attack rate, and/or high hospital occupancy," the researchers said.

"We are concerned that these LGUs may experience high hospital burden in the coming weeks that may stress their health care systems and overwhelm their medical front-liners," they added.

The researchers asked "the  private sector to intensify their efforts to complement the initiatives of the government in providing  safe workplaces, the provision of adequate testing as needed, ensuring of compliance with minimum health standards, and implementation of effective contact tracing in the workplace."

"The cooperation of the business establishments will significantly reduce the risk of workplace transmissions while jump-starting economic recovery," they added. -NB, GMA News