The mandatory disclosure of information of infected patients among agencies involved in the battle against the coronavirus disease is a strategic move that goes with the massive targeted testing that is now underway.
Both measures taken together will hopefully identify most if not all of those carrying the deadly pathogen and have them isolated, thus, preventing wider devastation.
Of course, the public’s part in the war is to keep themselves confined in their homes to deny the virus from jumping from person to person.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said the government will make sure that the Data Privacy Act is respected when handling records of patients, which means that there would be no public disclosure.
With the virus still unleashing its lethal nature, a government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) study showed that even with the government intervention efforts such as the enforcement of physical distancing and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that will last for one and a half months, 900,000 cases are expected when the disease peaks in May or June.
It behooves Filipinos thus to keep their patience and follow the government directives since these are all meant to prevent a bigger catastrophe.
Giving the lame excuse of not knowing that the ECQ is extended to start hitting the streets carry the consequence of destroying the gains, thus far, in the war against the disease.
Aggressive efforts to implement early testing and, more importantly, earlier isolation of the majority of symptomatic cases to prevent them from infecting other individuals will be crucial to suppress the outbreak, the PIDS study noted.
The disease has the potential of affecting about a fifth of the population or 20 million Filipinos without the measures that the government implemented.
The think tank added that after the ECQ is lifted, aggressive efforts should be maintained to isolate at least 70 percent of infection cases through better contact tracing, social distancing, individual or household isolation and reduced delays in time to seek care for symptomatic cases.
It said extending the ECQ without other mitigation measures merely delays the progression of the outbreak and still results in a large number of cases.
“Otherwise, lifting the ECQ but maintaining current conditions of delayed time to seek care for symptomatic cases merely delays the progression of the outbreak but still results in around eight percent of the population infected,” which in real numbers would be around 8 million Filipinos.
“For all scenarios that do not successfully isolate at least 70 percent of infectious individuals, demand for health care resources generated by COVID-19 at the peak of the outbreak far exceed available supply in the health sector,” according to PIDS.
The think tank raised the possibility of an ECQ until the middle of May when the outbreak is expected to peak.
There are trade-offs, however, and it would be costly for the economy since businesses, coming from a coma, will take some time to get back to its post-ECQ energy.
Public confidence will also be seriously low, thus denying the economy of spending, except for essentials.
“Extending the ECQ may potentially cost the Philippine economy at least P150 billion due to possible declines in household consumption as workers remain unemployed for longer periods,” the study noted.
That all points to the need to defeat the virus at the soonest possible time.
Stay at home, have faith in government, those are needed to achieve victory.
Both measures taken together will hopefully identify most if not all of those carrying the deadly pathogen and have them isolated, thus, preventing wider devastation.
Of course, the public’s part in the war is to keep themselves confined in their homes to deny the virus from jumping from person to person.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said the government will make sure that the Data Privacy Act is respected when handling records of patients, which means that there would be no public disclosure.
With the virus still unleashing its lethal nature, a government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) study showed that even with the government intervention efforts such as the enforcement of physical distancing and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that will last for one and a half months, 900,000 cases are expected when the disease peaks in May or June.
It behooves Filipinos thus to keep their patience and follow the government directives since these are all meant to prevent a bigger catastrophe.
Giving the lame excuse of not knowing that the ECQ is extended to start hitting the streets carry the consequence of destroying the gains, thus far, in the war against the disease.
Aggressive efforts to implement early testing and, more importantly, earlier isolation of the majority of symptomatic cases to prevent them from infecting other individuals will be crucial to suppress the outbreak, the PIDS study noted.
The disease has the potential of affecting about a fifth of the population or 20 million Filipinos without the measures that the government implemented.
The think tank added that after the ECQ is lifted, aggressive efforts should be maintained to isolate at least 70 percent of infection cases through better contact tracing, social distancing, individual or household isolation and reduced delays in time to seek care for symptomatic cases.
It said extending the ECQ without other mitigation measures merely delays the progression of the outbreak and still results in a large number of cases.
“Otherwise, lifting the ECQ but maintaining current conditions of delayed time to seek care for symptomatic cases merely delays the progression of the outbreak but still results in around eight percent of the population infected,” which in real numbers would be around 8 million Filipinos.
“For all scenarios that do not successfully isolate at least 70 percent of infectious individuals, demand for health care resources generated by COVID-19 at the peak of the outbreak far exceed available supply in the health sector,” according to PIDS.
The think tank raised the possibility of an ECQ until the middle of May when the outbreak is expected to peak.
There are trade-offs, however, and it would be costly for the economy since businesses, coming from a coma, will take some time to get back to its post-ECQ energy.
Public confidence will also be seriously low, thus denying the economy of spending, except for essentials.
“Extending the ECQ may potentially cost the Philippine economy at least P150 billion due to possible declines in household consumption as workers remain unemployed for longer periods,” the study noted.
That all points to the need to defeat the virus at the soonest possible time.
Stay at home, have faith in government, those are needed to achieve victory.