The national government is finding an equilibrium to attend to the pressing needs of typhoon victims and the challenge brought by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana assured Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Lorenzana said the government is on top of the situation even as the destructive effects of successive typhoons—most recent of which are “Quinta,” “Rolly,” and “Ulysses”—have brought thousands to its knees, while the country continues to deal with a global pandemic.

“We’re very happy na wala pang outbreak dyan sa mga evacuation centers so siguro walang nagdala ng ano doon, walang na-infect sa kanila na magkakalat ng virus. Hopefully, knock on wood, wala nang infection dyan,” Lorenzana said.

(We’re very happy that we have no outbreak in evacuation centers, so probaby no one was infected and no one brought the virus there. Hopefully, knock on wood, we won’t have infections there.)

He, however, mentioned the observation by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III that some evacuees fail to observe social distancing in evacuation centers.

“Sabi niya kinakabahan talaga siya kasi ‘yung napuntahan niyang—anong tawag dito—evacuation centers ay dikit-dikit ‘yung mga tao. Mabuti na lang sabi niya lahat naka-mask pero the distancing protocol is not being followed kasi nga maliit lang ‘yung lugar,” Lorenzana shared.

( said he was worried because people are close to each other in the evacuation centers he visited. The good thing was that they were all wearing face masks, but distancing protocols are not being followed because the centers have really small spaces.)

For typhoon Ulysses alone, a report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that 283,656 individuals are still being served in 2,205 evacuation centers across Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region (Region 1), Cagayan Valley (Region 2), Central Luzon (Region 3), Calabarzon (Region 4A), Mimaropa (Region 4B), and Bicol Region (Region 5).

Aside from those taking refuge in evacuation centers, at least 158,926 individuals have also fled their homes due to Ulysses and have been temporarily living with their relatives or friends.

Lorenzana said it will be a challenge to conduct COVID-19 tests on the 430,000 evacuees due to number of supply of test kits needed to ensure they are free from the virus.

Although he acknowledged the need for testing, he suggested instead to conduct strict monitoring of the evacuees and immediately isolate those displaying symptoms from the rest to avoid widespread infection.

“It will be a challenge kasi kung i-testing mo lahat dyan, we’re going to do it one by one. Siguro ang aking suggestion is to watch out for those with symptoms, mga nilalagnat, i-isolate agad ang mga inuubo para hindi na lalala,” he said.

(It will be a challenge to test all of them because we’re going to have to do it one by one, right? My suggestion is to watch out for those with symptoms, those who have fever, and isolate those who have a cough, to ensure that won’t get out of hand.)