Filipinos scored only 50 percent when it came to compliance with the minimum health standards against COVID-19, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Wednesday.
Citing a report from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Malaya noted that the minimum health standards include the wearing of face masks, physical distancing, and disinfection.
“According to the NEDA study, our compliance percentage for minimum health standards is only 50 percent,” Malaya said in a launching event on Wednesday.
Contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong attributed the non-compliance of Filipinos to “human behavior,” saying it would take time for Filipinos to adjust to the new normal.
“We’ve gotten used to it (without masks). You cannot change human behavior in just a matter of six months. It would take some time,” Magalong said.
He proposed that penalties and punishment should be used to improve compliance rates.
Earlier, a survey conducted by YouGov in partnership with Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London showed 91 percent of Filipinos always wear masks whenever they go out.
COVID-19 cases top 226,000
THE Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,218 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections since the pandemic started to 226,440.
Twenty-seven new deaths were reported, bringing the total death toll from COVID-19 to 3,623.
At the same time, 609 new recoveries were logged, bringing to 158,610 the number of patients who have recovered from the disease.
These brought to 64,207 the number of active COVID-19 cases, where patients are being treated or under quarantine.
The new cases were based on reports submitted by 102 of the 110 operational testing labs.
Avigan trials delayed
THE clinical trials for the Japanese anti-flu drug Avigan did not start as scheduled because three participating hospitals have yet to finish their ethics review, while a fourth, Philippine General Hospital, was still having its memorandum of agreement reviewed, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Wednesday.
The three hospitals were Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, Sta. Ana Hospital and Quirino Memorial Medical Center.
Vergeire said that the clinical trials on Avigan drug will be administered on 100 patients.
The Avigan clinical trials were supposed to start in mid-August but they were moved to Sept. 1.
74% of health care worker slots filled
ABOUT 74 percent of the approved nationwide hiring slots by the Department of Health (DOH) have been filled, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
She also said Region X recorded the highest number of slots filled with 100 percent, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) recorded 33.89 percent.
The hiring of additional health care workers was provided under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, also known as Republic Act No. 11469.
Año discharged, recovering at home
INTERIOR Secretary Eduardo Año has been discharged from the hospital but will continue to recuperate at home.
In a text message Tuesday night, Año said he was discharged from the hospital on Aug. 30, two weeks after he tested positive again for the COVID-19 on Aug. 16.
He said he is on self-quarantine while waiting for the results of his swab test, which will determine whether he is already free of the virus.
Except for some coughing, he said he was feeling fine.
IATF still studying provincial bus plan
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is considering allowing provincial bus operations to resume in Metro Manila, an official said Wednesday.
Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in an online press briefing that the issue was still being discussed.
At present, provincial buses are banned from entering Metro Manila and are required to carry only half of their passenger capacity.
A provincial bus association said 14,000 workers have already lost their jobs because of travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lorenzana urges public to cooperate
There is a good chance the Philippines could flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections within this month if everyone follows health and safety protocols, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
“Yes, we can. What will we do to achieve it? Strictly implement the health protocols and follow the campaign plan developed by the NTF (National Task Force) – the PDITR: protect, detect, isolate, treat, and reintegrate,” the chairman of the NTF against COVID-19 said in a message Tuesday night.
Lorenzana was commenting on the possibility of flattening the COVID-19 curve as predicted by a research group from the University of the Philippines (UP), which cited the decline in the number of infections in the past few days.