Return of stronger anti-Covid measures ‘possible’ after surge in cases

STRENGTHENING of community quarantine measures may be back on the table after a spike in Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases due to increased community transmission, according to the Department of Health (DoH).

The country’s total Covid-19 cases have reached 47,873 with the addition of 1,540 new cases last July 7.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the sub-technical working group on data analytics has presented early information but added that they were still looking into the numbers in the next few days to see if there was a trend in the rise of cases.

“We have to look at the indicators also, like case doubling time, critical care utilization at yung ating mortality, so kung tignan natin yan, importante na hindi na-ooverwhelm ang system (If we see it, it’s important that the system is not overwhelmed)” Vergeire told reporters in a media briefing on Wednesday.

She added that the community quarantine was enforced so that the country can better prepare the health system for a possible surge of Covid-19 cases.

Vergeire added that the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is considering not only the health indicators, but also security, economic, and social indicators.

“Kung may posibilidad na makabalik tayo sa stricter community quarantine measures, titignan natin sa mga darating na araw, naga-analyze na tayo (If there is a possibility that we return to stricter community quarantine measures, we will see it in the coming days and we are analyzing it),” said Vergeire, the concurrent spokesman.

She also reminded local government units to strengthen the enforcement of non-pharmaceutical measures such as washing of hands, wearing of face masks, and physical distancing.