The number of COVID-19 cases in some Metro Manila cities have started to go down in the recent days, partly because of the intensified implementation of the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR) strategy, said Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr.
“Sa wakas bumababa na ang mga kaso sa Metro Manila, ito po ay sang-ayon sa datos ng mga nasabing local government units (LGUs),” said Secretary Roque in a press briefing on April 19, 2021. Citing some of the said data, the Palace official said that cases in the City of Manila has gone down from 4,083 on April 15 to 3,957 on April 18.
In Muntinlupa, Secretary Roque said that from 1,692 cases on April 15, it went down to 1,578 on April 18. In Pasay, cases have gone down from 480 on April 15 to 390 on April 18, while in Valenzuela, from 1,218 cases on April 15, the city has 1,173 cases on April 17.
“Bagama’t bahagya lamang ang pagbaba ay ito naman po ay patunay na yung mga ginagawa ng LGUs natin na intensified PDITR ay mukha naman pong gumagana,” said Sec. Roque. He added that while the reduction in the number of cases is not yet evident after the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), he is hoping that the results of the said ECQ and MECQ will be seen after three to four weeks.
The concurrent Inter-Agency Task Force spokesperson further said that this is also based on the projections of FASSSTER. “If I’m not mistaken, yung model na 1 week travel bubble, 2 weeks ECQ and 2 weeks MECQ will result in around 4,000, but that’s after 2 weeks of ECQ and 2 [weeks] MECQ… so hindi ko talaga alam kung kelan makikita yan pero I think it should be second or third [week] after yung second week of MECQ,” said Sec. Roque.
On another matter, Roque announced that there will be an inspection in Luneta tomorrow for the coming opening of the Manila Mega COVID Field Hospital. “Makakatulong itong Manila Mega COVID Field Hospital na madagdagan ang ating mga kama habang patuloy nating mino-monitor ang ating health care utilization rate,” Roque remarked.
The Palace spokesperson added, “Kung inyong matatandaan, nakapagbukas na tayo ng sumusunod na modular hospitals: limang units sa Quezon Institute na may 110 bed capacity, isang unit sa Lung Center Hospital na may 16 bed capacity, at isang unit sa Dr. Jose Rodriguez Hospital na may 22 bed capacity.”
Also ongoing is the construction of a modular hospital at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute with 60 bed capacity, and two units with 44 bed capacity in Batangas, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Meanwhile, Roque congratulated Education Secretary Leonor Briones, who was a resource person in the said press briefing, on the inclusion of basic education teachers in the Priority Group A4 of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment Plan after Sec. Briones’ consistent lobbying for their inclusion in the said priority group for vaccination.
Secretary Briones said that originally, an estimated 1.2 million teachers and support personnel were included in the list of Department of Education personnel to be vaccinated. But with many teachers already covered by LGU vaccinations, the number has gone down to around 791,000, said Briones.
On the matter of contact tracing, Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr said that with digital contact tracing using StaySafe.ph, this will strengthen and make more efficient the government’s contact tracing efforts. Aside from the use of StaySafe, Usec. Florece said that active contact tracing continues with contact tracers continuously monitoring and tracing those who tested positive and their close contacts.
On the other hand, Department of Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Emmanuel Rey Caintic explained some of the features of digital contact tracing, which he said include investigative tracing that involves the use of data to assist contact tracers in their contact tracing, exposure notification using technology to help public health authorities fight COVID-19, interoperability of LGU Command Centers, and establishment protection using QR Codes. ### OPS-PCOO