HPAAC says gov’t still has ‘no clear plans’ vs. pandemic, lays out demands to avoid ‘vicious cycle’

A group of health professionals is demanding urgent changes to the government's COVID-19 response to prevent a "vicious cycle" of surge in infections, as well hunger among the Filipino public and economic recession.

In a statement on Facebook, the Healthcare Professionals Alliance against COVID-19 (HPAAC) excoriated the government for "still [having] no clear plans and efforts to fix the root causes" of the problems caused by the pandemic, saying that it has resorted to extending the strict lockdown without clear plans to decrease community transmission.

"The government still has no clear plans and efforts to fix the root causes, and the nation continues to suffer because of this. This ECQ  (enhanced community quarantine) may have slowed down the spread, but the numbers are still perilously high," HPAAC said.

With patients scramble to find hospitals for treatment, the health group demanded for an incident management team to lead in allocation of patients in hospitals by coordinating with the Department of Health and local government units.

"This is why the sick and their families desperately find their own way across overflowing hospitals in the NCR hotspots, crowding out services in neighboring provinces and cities. Our demand: establish an Incident Management Team for command and control for the whole NCR," said HPAAC.

Citing inconsistencies in digital contact tracing which affects quarantine of contacts, HPAAC urged lawmakers to create a measure that would "compel data sharing" through Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure.

"Interoperability of existing digital solutions is saddled by bureaucratic red tape and conflicts of interest. Our demand: pass an enabling law that will compel data sharing through an integrated ICT infrastructure," the statement read.

Also, HPAAC demanded to enforce Apat Dapat in all government agencies, public transport, private workplaces, business establishments and other public spaces. Apat Dapat means air circulation, ventilation, physical distancing, wearing of face masks and face shield, and limiting time interaction of 30 minutes or less.

The health organization also called on the government to recalibrate its target for vaccine distribution to avoid overcrowding at inoculation centers.

"Our demand: recalibrate the program in order to ramp up and achieve set targets without compromises in safety caused by inadvertent queues and crowding in vaccination areas," HPAAC wrote.

If these demands will be ignored, HPAAC said: "The sick will die unattended, the people will continue to face hunger, and our economy will plummet into further recession."

"As the government inevitably lifts the ECQ, HPAAC asks: have critical bottlenecks to long-term solutions proposed been addressed? Are our systems and processes ready to protect the people from this surge?" it added. — BM, GMA News