MANILA – The Philippines is already under the “second wave” of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III bared yesterday.
“Actually nasa second wave tayo. ‘Yung first wave, batay po sa ating mga batikang epidemiologist, happened sometime in January – noong nagkaroon po tayo ng tatlong kaso ng mga Chinese nationals from Wuhan,” said Duque during the Senate Committee of the Whole Hearing, adding preparations are ongoing to mitigate the possible next surge on the number of cases.
“‘Yun po ay kinikilalang first wave, maliit lang na wave ika nga. Pero ngayon nasa second wave tayo at ginagawa po natin ang lahat para nga ma-flatten ‘yung epidemic curve,” he added.
Duque earlier said that a third wave of COVID-19 transmission would be the “worst case scenario” for Metro Manila if it will be placed under general community quarantine without enough testing.
Based on the latest data from the Department of Health, the country has a total of 12,942 COVID-19 cases with 2,843 recoveries and 837 deaths.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) is eyeing to implement a per barangay lockdown with the relaxation of the community quarantine.
IATF-EID chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the possibility was reached as the country wants to preserve the return of the economy after almost two months of lockdown.
“Baka hindi na tayo mag-declare ng lockdown per region, but ang lockdown na lang natin by barangay,” Galvez told President Duterte during a public address on early Wednesday.
“Ibig sabihin, paliitin lang natin. Gagawin natin is ‘yung barangay na mayroon cases, ‘yon ang ilo-lock down natin para ma-preserve natin ang economy,” he added.
President Duterte, while he agrees with Galvez plan, said that a return to enhanced community quarantine is a possibility if the number of coronavirus infection spikes as more areas are slowly reopening.
“Kung babalik tayo sa dati, if the contamination will be as fast as before and it will continue to infect ‘yung nakalabas na, then we’ll have to just go back to the original program,” said Duterte.
Metro Manila, Laguna, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, and Angeles City had already shifted to a modified lockdown, where government sought to restart an economy ravaged by the pandemic.
Cebu and Mandaue in the Visayas, meanwhile, remained under enhanced community quarantine, while other parts of the country are now under general community quarantine, with loosened restrictions./PN
