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Philippines 10 steps back from square one in COVID-19 fight, says ex-DOH chief


Former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the Philippines’ situation worsened amid fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, which the Department of Health (DOH) said was being driven by new coronavirus variants and relaxed adherence to health protocols.

“We are not back to square one. We are ten steps back from square one,” Cabral said in a statement posted by Dr. Tony Leachon on Twitter Wednesday.

She noted that COVID-19 cases are on the rise and hospitals are once again getting overwhelmed.  However, she said this time it was different.

“Square one was when we had just shut down the economy and people had spare change in their pockets and a small ‘ayuda’ became available no matter how inept the distribution became. Square one was when the private sector was able to step up, provide financial protection for their employees and spend billions and billions to help others. We don’t have those things this time,” Cabral said.

“Square one was when hospitals were full but doctors and other healthcare workers, though scared to get COVID-19 themselves and still guessing how to treat something they had never met before, were fresh and eager to do battle with this particular enemy,” she added.

But now, she said health workers are “tired just like everyone else.”

“They might have learned a lot but still not enough," said Cabral, who is now with the group Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare.

The country has so far reported a total of 635,698 cases of COVID-19 with 561,099 recoveries, 12,866 fatalities, and 61,733 active cases.

The OCTA Research group earlier said the country could see 11,000 new COVID-19 cases daily by the end of March as it noted an upward trend in infections.

Professor Guido David said the reproduction number has increased to 2.03, meaning every COVID-19 case can infect two other people.

David also said an OCTA Research fellow projected COVID-19 intensive care unit bed occupancy in the capital region will rise to 70% by the end of the month.

The DOH earlier said 65 percent of COVID-19 ICU beds were occupied in Metro Manila.

The experts previously warned that the country could see up to 20,000 new cases daily by April if the surge is not contained.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News

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