The OCTA Research Team urged the government to increase its testing, contact tracing, and isolation efforts to further prevent the spread of the new and more infectious COVID-19 variant that has been detected in the country.
Dr. Butch Ong, a member of the OCTA Research, said Thursday that while the new COVID-19 variant is "a little alarming," its entry is still expected as the country is still in a pandemic.
"It is expected talaga na may mga (COVID-19) variants na papasok sa bansa natin once in a while. What is important is that maaga natin nalaman kasi we can institute measures to control the spread of the virus," Ong said during a “Laging Handa” virtual briefing.
(It is really expected that there will be COVID-19 variants that will enter our country once in a while. What is important is that we discovered early on that the new strain is here as we can immediately institute measures to control the spread of the virus)
The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed Wednesday that the new COVID-19 strain, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom, has been detected in the Philippines.
To curb further transmission of the new variant, Ong suggested the increase of testing, contact tracing, and isolation capacities in the country.
"Ang mungkahi namin from the OCTA Research is to increase the capacity of the national healthcare system – more human resources, equipment such as ventilators, bed capacity, and more wards sana ang maitalaga for COVID-19 patients," he said.
(Our suggestion from the OCTA Research is to increase the capacity of the national healthcare system – more human resources, equipment such as ventilators, bed capacity, and more wards should be allocated for COVID-19 patients)
Ong added that the country's testing capacity should be scaled up and adjusted, as well as the contact tracing efforts not only in the capital region but also in provinces due to the presence of the new variant.
"We should also put more isolation facilities in the country. Maaaring ma-overwhelm ang mga isolation facilities lalo na sa probinsya sa kung papasok ang ating mga OFWs or mga bisita na galing ibang bansa (Our isolation facilities particularly in the provinces may be overwhelmed if OFWs and visitors overseas arrive). It will be helpful to build more isolation facilities not just in NCR but also in strategic locations such as metro cities like Cebu and Davao," he said.
According to Ong, this is also the right time for the government to start a "massive information campaign" for its vaccination program to educate the public about the benefits of achieving herd immunity.
"This is the right time actually for us to implement a good strategy for public education and social advocacy for the vaccination program," he said.
In a recent survey conducted by OCTA, only 25 percent of Metro Manila residents are willing to get immunized once vaccines against COVID-19 are available in the country.
The majority of the respondents or 47 percent are uncertain if they will have the vaccine or not while 28 percent are unwilling.