"The COVID-19 situation in the Philippines may be grim and far from ideal, but there are bright spots that assure us that we are on the right track"
"The COVID-19 situation in the Philippines may be grim and far from ideal, but there are bright spots that assure us that we are on the right track"
It has been more than a year since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in the country. At that time, little was known about the virus, and many in our healthcare system were in a quandary on how to deal with the emerging pandemic.
Particularly worrisome was the situation in the regional countryside. In Eastern Visayas, for example, there is only one government tertiary hospital, and the number of ICU beds available was far from ideal for its four million population. The real crux of the matter was the capacity of the healthcare system to attend to the severe COVID-19 cases, especially at the beginning of the pandemic when clinical management of the disease was largely uncertain, and a positive test result was akin to a death sentence.
When the national government imposed a nationwide quarantine, the regions readily complied, hoping that it would in a way deter its surge in the provinces. Even in regions where there were zero COVID-19 cases, the lockdown was observed as a preventive measure.
In the meanwhile, local governments worked hard on building their capability in response to the pandemic. In Eastern Visayas, local governments took to heart the test-trace-treat approach and where needed, improvised on whatever limitations they had. As the lockdown progressed, a consortium of government and private stakeholders partnered on establishing the region’s own molecular testing laboratory. Thanks to the strong support of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tingog Party-List Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez, the Eastern Visayas Regional COVID-19 Testing Center is currently operating at a total capacity of more than 1,500 tests daily, having conducted more than three hundred RT-PCR tests for free since the start of its operations. Two other testing laboratories in the region were later established, significantly beefing up the region’s testing capability.
Several local governments units in Eastern Visayas, particularly the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc, were among the early adopters of a digital contact tracing system. By issuing QR-codes to residents, the contact tracing capability of these LGUs were significantly improved. A QR-code reader required of every business establishment hoping to resume operations. All were required to present their individual QR-code before entering any business establishment. This helped contract tracers determine the movement of people, and quickly identify and isolate all close contacts. As a result, wholescale lockdowns were avoided, and instead, only localized restrictions were imposed whenever necessary. This was particularly helpful in tracking locally stranded individuals as well as authorized persons outside of residence from Manila traveling into the region.
With the limited hospital bed capacity available for severe COVID-19 cases, almost all local government units in Eastern Visayas established their own community quarantine facilities where individuals with asymptomatic and mild cases were placed in isolation. Every effort was taken to make these facilities comfortable, which was not easy for many LGUs that lacked the needed funds to make permanent structures. The regional hospital was immediately designated as the main referral facility for severe COVID-19 cases, with several private hospitals as complement. Under the leadership of the Department of Health, all government and private hospitals worked toward establishing a COVID-19 referral protocol, in an effort to prevent a possible breakdown in the already-limited hospital system. In fact, when at one point, cases of in-hospital transmission happened, Tingog Party-List quickly responded by establishing several isolation facilities for healthcare professionals with a total capacity of 800 beds.
Despite its limited resources, local government units in Eastern Visayas worked on keeping a surge of COVID-19 cases at bay, and as a result COVID-19 cases are now on a steadily downward trend. In fact from March to April 2021, only around 700 cases were reported, with the number of new cases steadily maintained at two-digit figures in almost all provinces.
However, the fluctuating trend does not mean the pandemic is over, and a surge in infections in the coming months may still be possible. Thus, the public must not be complacent, nor the government afford to let its guard down in enforcing minimum health standards. In fact, just weeks ago, Tacloban City has once again required individuals traveling from the NCR+ areas to submit a negative RT-PCR result.
With its stronger test-trace-treat capability, LGUs have now become more lenient on travel protocols, and border controls have been relaxed. This has allowed the economy to gradually reopen and made it easier for the people to adapt to the new normal.
Statistics show that at the beginning of this month, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas is at 16,906, with a total recovery rate of 96.18 percent and about one percent fatality rate resulting in 254 deaths. There are only around 392 active cases left, or a total of two percent of the total number of COVID-19 cases.
The COVID-19 response made by LGUs in the regional countryside tells us that much can be done to keep the pandemic well under control. In fact, these LGUs have shown that more can be done with less, given the dearth of resources and the limited capacity of its hospital system. It also proves that COVID-19 is not as invincible as it seems, and that a solution, though not perfect and foolproof, is possible and workable, if the government and the people are willing to do their part and work together.
To date, with the number of cases reaching more than 200,000, the Philippines has become the most affected country in Southeast Asia. This has forced the reimposition of stricter quarantine measures in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces, in order to stem the surge of COVID-19 cases that is overwhelming the hospitals in the National Capital Region. With the seemingly worsening situation, many have asked whether we are back to square one, as when the pandemic happened or whether the government has done enough to address the crisis.
The hard truth is that LGUs in the regions have done little to reinvent the response strategies set by the national government. Clearly, the magnitude of the crisis, as well as the ability of the infection to increase almost exponentially has made the situation very complicated. In response, our LGUs stepped up and by engaging the people made it clear that a solution depends on everyone’s cooperation. But the least that can be said is that the government’s game plan is working, as results in the provinces would show, but only if all sectors are willing to play their part.
In the end, what is clear is that even if implemented perfectly, on its own, the government’s test-trace-treat approach will not totally prevent but can only slow down the spread of infection. The people need to understand that the situation is larger in scale, and much of what governments around the world know about the disease, they get to learn as they deal with it. Even the test-trace-treat approach has its own limitations, especially with the recent emergence of more contagious viral mutations. Likewise, there is the crucial act of balancing public health and the economy, a task that is as daunting as keeping the pandemic under control.
People these days often ask when is this pandemic going to end, and thinking this way, seeing no clear deadline in sight can easily be frustrating. The question that we should rather be asking, as some of our LGUs are now telling us – is how this pandemic is going to end, for the sooner we are able to shift to a new normal of doing things, the quicker can we resume living our usual lives.
The COVID-19 situation in the Philippines may be grim and far from ideal, but there are bright spots that assure us that we are on the right track. We just have to set our sights on the same solution and be willing to get our act together.