ECQ ‘wasted’? DOH says health system capacity expanded amid surge

The two-week tightening of quarantine restrictions was used to expand the country’s healthcare system, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday after a group of health workers said the lockdown was “wasted.”

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire disagreed with an earlier statement of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) that the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over NCR Plus “seems to have been wasted again.” 

The HPAAC also demanded urgent changes to the government’s pandemic response to stop the “vicious cycle” of rising infections and hunger among Filipinos.

But in a briefing, Vergeire said:  “I cannot say really, hindi ko masasang-ayunan ang HPAAC dito na sinasabi nilang [I cannot agree with the HPAAC in their statement that] it has ‘gone to waste’ because we have implemented measures naman,” 

The health official said the DOH added over 3,000 more ICU, isolation, and ward beds to various hospitals across Metro Manila, the region worst-hit by the new surge in COVID-19 cases.

She added that mechanical ventilators, nasal cannulas, personal protective equipment, and additional funds for the procurement of medical resources were distributed to hospitals.

Vergeire also said the contact tracing efficiency ratio has increased slightly to an average of 1:6 to 1:9 from a national average of 1:3 in March. 

She said the Labor Department is set to deploy more contact tracers. The DOH also sent health workers from the provinces to Metro Manila last week to augment the region's workforce. 

“We are currently doing kung ano ang dapat gawin para maibsan natin itong sitwasyon (what needs to be done to improve our situation),” Vergeire said.

She also stressed that the effects of the ECQ will only become evident “in the next 10 to 14 days” due to the incubation period of the coronavirus.

The ECQ over Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna expired on Sunday. NCR Plus will be under modified ECQ until the end of the month. 

The country has 146,519 active cases as of Sunday afternoon. — RSJ, GMA News