Senators warn vs complacency amid COVID-19 case decline

MANILA, Philippines — Senators yesterday cautioned authorities and the general public against complacency in observing health protocols as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continues to decline.

Senators Panfilo Lacson and Sonny Angara, in separate statements, called for continued vigilance against the virus as the Department of Health (DOH) and OCTA Research reported declining positivity rate of infections.

“It is encouraging to see a steady decline in the number of people getting infected with COVID-19 in the country. Hopefully this trend will continue and we can open up more sectors of our economy faster,” Angara said.

He said the public and the government as a whole should not let their guard down as there are still “a lot of people getting infected, succumbing to the virus, and new variants of the virus continue to emerge.”

The DOH on Oct. 27 reported a positivity rate of 7.6 percent based on the 41,049 tests it reported on Oct. 25 while OCTA—in its latest report—said the positivity rate in the National Capital Region has declined to five percent, the lowest rate since July 14.

The research group noted the World Health Organization considers a positivity rate of five percent or below as acceptable.

Angara said while the supply of vaccines is increasing, the country still has a long way to go to vaccinate a majority of its population.

He appealed to those who have yet to receive the jab to have themselves vaccinated as soon as possible.

“The vaccines have been proven to be safe so schedule your vaccinations,” Angara said in Filipino.

As of Oct. 25, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 reported that over 25 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated, representing 33.65 percent of the country’s target to inoculate 70 percent of its population by yearend.

The Philippines has received over 100 million doses of vaccines from various sources including the COVAX Facility and some donor countries.

Lacson said until the number of COVID-19 cases drops to zero, the government cannot claim success in its efforts to address the threat.

He said the drop in cases in past weeks should not lull authorities into a false sense of security.

“We can claim success only if we have zero cases. As long as there are new cases, even one or two, we cannot do so. And we are still having new cases by the thousands,” he told dwIZ in Filipino.

He noted that in other countries and territories, authorities call for meetings among government officials if there is even one new case.

He lamented that there are still lapses being committed by the government and issues have to be addressed, including lack of public trust in some vaccine brands.

Also, he stressed the need to curb corruption especially in the DOH, so it can maximize limited resources to procure and administer the needed vaccines.

He said the DOH has yet to crush the syndicates behind the overpricing of medical supplies including ambulances procured using Health Facilities Enhancement Program funds.

Lacson, who is running for President under Partido Reporma, also pointed out the need to devolve DOH funds to local health units instead of devolving only the functions and keeping the funds in the central office.

“We talk of devolution but only the functions are devolved; the funds are still in the central office,” he said.