MANILA, Philippines – Bumababa na ang kaso ng COVID-19 cases sa National Capital Region (NCR), batay sa obserbasyon ng Department of Health (DOH).

Ayon kay DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, kapansin-pansin ang bumabagal na ngayong hawaan ng COVID-19 sa NCR kahit may umiiral na transmission o hawaan ng Omicron variant, kumpara sa nakalipas na linggo.

“Base naman sa obserbasyon na ito, atin namang sinasabi na, oo bumabagal po ang pagtaas ng mga kaso, mayroon po tayong nakikita na parang nagpa-plateau dito sa National Capital Region,” ani Vergeire.

“But we do not look only sa number of cases kapag tayo ay nag-aanalisa ng ating sitwasyon. Tinitignan pa po natin ang ibang mga metrics na gingamit gaya ng positivity rate,” dagdag pa niya.

Ayon sa DOH, nakatulong ang mataas na vaccination coverage sa NCR kaya naman kahit tumaas ang kaso ay hindi ganoon kadami ang na-ospital at nakaranas ng severe infection.

Ngunit sa labas ng NCR, napansin rin ng DOH na tumataas naman ang kaso ng COVID-19 sa mga lalawigan, dahilan upang ilagay sa COVID-19 Alert Level 4 ang ilang lugar.

Kabilang sa mga lugar na nasa ilalim ng Alert Level 4 hanggang Enero 31 ay ang Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain Province, at Northern Samar.

Sa ilalim ng Alert Level 4, hanggang 10% indoor capacity lang ang papayagan sa operasyon ng mga establisiymento para sa fully vaccinated individual habang 30% naman ang outdoor capacity.

Bawal namang mag-operate ang amusement parks, casinos, mga sinehan, pati na ang pagsasagawa ng contact sports at face-to-face classes.

“Bagamat mataas na po talaga ang kanilang mga kaso ang kanilang healthcare utilization ay pumalo na po more than 70%. Now there are areas in the country na pumalo na rin po sa more than 70% ang kanilang healthcare utilization pero hindi po natin inescalate so bakit po? Dahil tinitihgnan din po natin kung magkano po ba or how much they have allocated for their ICUs and wards,” ang paliwanag ni Vergeire.

“Nakikita po natin na medyo nahihirapan na po ang mga lugar na ito that’s why the decision to escalate them compared to other areas,” dagdag pa niya.

Ganito rin ang obserbasyon ng OCTA Research group sa sitwasyon ng COVID-19 sa bansa.

Ayon kay OCTA Research fellow Guido David, inaasahang sa pagpasok ng Pebrero ay mas mababa pa ang maitatalang kaso ng COVID-19 kada araw sa NCR,

“Even by the end of the month we are projecting just a little over 2000 cases per day in the NCR it peaked at around 18,000,” ani David.

“By Valentine’s Day, it could be at less than 1,000 cases and by the end of February it could be at around less than 500 cases. Again these are very rough projections we hope that it could guide our friends in the business sector and in the government,” dagdag pa niya.

Sa obserbasyon ng OCTA, ang pagbaba ng kaso sa NCR ay gaya ng pattern na naobserbahan sa South Africa pagkatapos ng mabilis na pagkalat ng Omicron variant.

Pero babala ng grupo, hindi dapat maging kampante ang publiko dahil tumataas pa rin ang kaso ng COVID-19 sa ibang lugar gaya sa Central Luzon, CALABARZON at sa Cebu City.

Dapat rin umanong panatilihin muna ang alert level sa NCR dahil mahigit pa sa 1 ang reproduction number ng rehiyon at hindi pa rin naman napuputol ang hawaan ng Omicron at Delta variant.

“Downgrading to alert level at this time might not be advisable until the NCR reaches the moderate risk just to sustain the rapid decrease that we’re seeing so that we could see those good numbers later in the moths of February,” ani David.

“Last year we almost reach a baseline of about less than 100 cases per day in the NCR,” dagdag pa niya.

Samantala, muli namang nagpaalala ang mga otoridad sa publiko na sumunod sa health protocols at magpabakuna o booster upang magkaroon ng proteksyon laban sa COVID-19.

MANILA, Philippines – Pinag-aaralan na ng Department of Health (DOH) kung maaaring mapababa ang presyo ng RT-PCR o swab test sa gitna ng lumulobong kaso ng COVID-19 sa bansa.

Ang hakbang ay kasunod na rin ng reklamo sa mataas na presyo ng test at dami ng mga nagpapasuri.

Ayon kay DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III, inaalam na nila ang paraan kung paano mapapamura ang presyo ng swab test upang hindi gaanong mabigatan ang bulsa ng mga Pilipino.

Noong Setyembre 2021, sinabi ng DOH na dapat ay naglalaro lang sa P2,000 hanggang P3,000 ang presyo ng RT-PCR test sa mga pampubliko at pribadong laboratoryo.

Mula ito sa dating presyo na P3,000 hanggang P5,000.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) has disclosed that the protocols for the isolation and quarantine durations for confirmed cases of COVID-19 and close contacts have been updated amid the rapidly rising number of infections in the country.

During a Zoom presentation published on Wednesday, DOH Spokesperson, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the isolation period for fully vaccinated persons with mild COVID-19 will now be shortened from 10 days to seven days from onset of symptoms.

For fully vaccinated asymptomatic cases, the isolation period will be seven days from their positive RT-PCR test result.

“Ten days isolation is retained for those that are partially or unvaccinated, and those with moderate symptoms regardless of vaccination status,” Vergeire said.

“Meanwhile, the isolation period has been retained to 21 days for those with severe and critical disease, and those immunocompromised as outlined by the living CTG panel,” she added.

Vergeire said that for fully vaccinated health workers with boosters, their isolation duration can be shortened to five days by hospital infection prevention and control committee and/or provincial health offices upon careful assessment of benefits and risk.

“They shall also be expanded to other sectors with strict industry standards on IPC subject with IATF approval,” she added.

The quarantine period for fully vaccinated asymptomatic close contacts, Vergeire said, will be shortened to five days from the previous seven days.

“For the quarantine of asymptomatic close contacts for the general public, policies are to be from seven days, we shortened it to five days for those who are fully vaccinated, and we retained 14 days for partially or unvaccinated individuals,” Vergeire said.

“All individuals should also be reminded to continue monitoring their symptoms, wear their mask, and implement minimum public health standards for 14 days,” she added.

The quarantine period for fully vaccinated health workers will be cut short to five days while those with boosters may no longer undergo quarantine period

A note on the slide showing the update quarantine period stated that this is still subject to IATF approval/DOH guidelines.

The DOH said isolation is for individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 while quarantine is for those who have been exposed and can possibly develop infection.

Vergeire also said that the testing of asymptomatic close contacts would not be required unless they developed symptoms.

“For healthcare workers that are considered asymptomatic close contacts, for the sake of uniformity, they will follow the five days quarantine similar to the general public, provided, they are fully vaccinated,” she said.

The DOH would also retain that the hospital prevention and control committees could further shorten the healthcare workers’ quarantine with boosters depending on the situations, risks, and benefits, she added.

During the presentation, Vergeire said the update in the DOH guidelines was “deemed necessary” because “the differences in guidelines for quarantine and isolation of travelers, the general public, and specific sectors like healthcare workers had been causing confusion on the ground.”

She also said that amid the continuous rise in the number of cases, most of these remain asymptomatic and mild, which showed the effectiveness of the vaccines against severe COVID-19.

Patients who contracted the Omicron variant also showed milder symptoms that those that caught the Delta variant.

“The prolonged quarantine and isolation duration has been causing strain to our healthcare system and our economy,” Vergeire said.

“Our experts believed that specifically in the Omicron variant the benefits of shortening the quarantine outweighs the risk,” she added.

Vergeire also noted that other countries were also updating their protocols on quarantine and isolation periods.

“While the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is the most aggressive example by bringing down their isolation and quarantine periods to five days, we also see other countries moving down from 14 days to 10 days,” she said.

“The updated policy of the Philippines attempts to find acceptable standards give our current context and allow more flexibility to groups and sectors that can strictly implement infection, prevention, and control procedures,” she added.

Vergeire said the updated policy will be issued in the next few days after it has been presented to and approved by the IATF.