At Palace briefing, WHO exec says COVID-19 resurgence not due to gov't incompetence

The resurgence in the number of COVID-19 cases in March wasn't caused by government incompetence, an official of the World Health Organization said on Monday.

WHO country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe said other countries had also experienced a spike in infections, forcing governments to reimpose restrictions.

“I would want to reiterate the fact that the Philippines is not unique in seeing an increase, and this increase is not attributed in any way to incompetence,” Abeyasinghe said at a Palace news conference.

Abeyasinghe was asked by presidential spokesperson Harry Roque whether the uptick in cases was a manifestation of government incompetence.

“Of course, that does not take away from the fact that we need to continue to invest and works towards strengthening our preparedness and response capacities on the ground," Abeyasinghe said.

Abeyasinghe said the surge was caused by the increased transmissibility of the coronavirus due to new variants, people being lax in following health protocols, and “optimism of the arrival and gradual rollout of vaccines.”

In response, the government placed the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal — collectively known as NCR Plus — under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), which is the strictest form of lockdown, from March 29 to April 4 to limit the people’s movement and help prevent the further transmission of the coronavirus.

The government later extended it to April 11.

“WHO has for many months been talking of the need for a coordinated response,” Abeyasinghe said.

“Not just a response that is coordinated across member states or countries but also within countries, between different provincial, regional, district government authorities so that there are coordinated response activities that are conducted in a well-coordinated manner so that we can get on top of this increased transmission we are seeing now in the Philippines.”

The Philippines on Monday registered 8,355 new infections, raising the total caseload to 803,398. The death toll climbed to 13,435 with 10 new fatalities.  --NB, GMA News