COVID-19 LOCKDOWN | Community doctors call out new lockdown guidelines in Manila as ‘confusing and impractical’

September 14, 2021 , 07:51 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(September 14, 2021) – The government’s new experiment using alert level-based lockdowns in Metro Manila is confusing and impractical, a group of community doctors said on Tuesday, doubting if the measures will stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The new lockdown classification will not be effective if the government continues to ignore mass testing and contact tracing, the Community Medicine Practitioners and Advocates Association (COMPASS) said.

The group pointed out the guidelines are focused too much on limiting mobility and reopening business establishments without offering support mechanisms such as financial assistance to Filipinos so they can comply with the restrictions.

“COMPASS questions the reliability and accuracy of the indicators for the newly invented classification which are confusing,” the organization said in a statement.

The National Capital Region will be placed beginning on Thursday under an “Alert Level 4,” the second highest alert level, for the pilot implementation of the new alert level system, according to the health department.

The alert level for the capital region was decided based on a moderate risk two-week growth rate of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, and high-risk average daily attack rate (ADAR) or the percentage of a population that contracts the virus, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

The ADAR has risen from 30.44 out of 100,000 persons in the previous weeks to 39.09 in the recent week. In addition, intensive care utilization rate in the capital is at high risk at 77.5% while bed utilization is nearing high risk at 69.5%, indicating that hospitals are nearing full capacity.

Under the new guidelines, some areas in the capital where there’s a surge in COVID-19 cases will be placed under a strict ‘granular lockdowns’, Vergeire said.

But healthcare workers, migrant workers who are leaving the country, and people in emergency situations will be allowed to go out.

The other areas in the capital not affected by the “granular lockdown” will have looser restrictions. Indoor business establishments can run at 10% capacity but only restricted to fully vaccinated individuals. Outdoor businesses can allow 30% capacity regardless of vaccination status.

“During this time we must ramp-up active case finding, conduct risk-based testing using RT-PCR, and fast track vaccination among high-risk groups,” Vergeire said.

However, COMPASS advised the government to beef up the nation’s capacity to deliver healthcare services in communities, such as free mass testing, aggressive contact tracing and isolation, and speedy vaccine rollout.

The group also called for amplifying the priority on COVID-19 response in the 2022 budget after the budget department slashed the health department’s allocation for next year.

“We need to re-open the economy. But without implementing the basic epidemiologic health measures, the country will experience further setbacks. Our 18-month experience reflects that we are not doing it right,” COMPASS said.

The Philippines reported on Tuesday a total of 18,056 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nation’s cumulative caseload to nearly 2.27 million. A total of 222 died, bringing the death toll to over 35,000.

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