QC devises early warning system for COVID-19 monitoring
MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government devised an early warning system that detects and analyzes ‘signals’ of a possible surge to avert a possible resurgence in COVID-19 infections in the biggest city in the metro.
In a statement sent to reporters, the city government said warning system designed by the Quezon City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit monitors new cases, analyzes trends, and recommends strategic measures to prevent another outbreak.
“As our doctors would say ‘prevention is better than cure’. At this point, there’s too much at stake to let all our efforts go to waste. We cannot afford to go back to zero,” said Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, who noted that the city government continues to employ preventative measures to keep any possible surge at bay.
QCESU Chief Dr. Rolly Cruz said that the warning system uses three colors–white, yellow, and red–to classify the status of infections in the city.
It includes four indicators, including:
- the Growth Rate between the current week and the previous week;
- the 7-day average Daily Attack Rate, which refers to the number of new COVID-19 infections per 100,000 population.
- the daily positivity rate with 7-day moving average; and the Reproduction Number.
Under the system, the white status is raised when COVID-19 cases are below average and all data indicators are considered stable. No surge of cases is expected in the next 14 days.
The yellow status is raised when cases are seen increasing compared to the previous week and when three of four indicators have increased from normal to above normal. Under this condition, there is a possibility of a surge within the next 14 days.
A red status is raised when cases continue to rise and all other indicators remain high or have breached the indicated threshold. This indicates the start of a surge.
When QCESU raises Yellow or Red status, communities are expected to be on high alert and to follow strict minimum public health protocols.
Cruz said as of June 2, the city is under white status, and has more than 900 beds on standby in its three remaining HOPE facilities.
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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com.
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