An alliance of health professionals on Saturday, Nov. 6, urged the national government to improve the contact tracing system in the country as Metro Manila eased to Alert Level 2.
The National Capital Region (NCR) was placed under a more relaxed Alert Level 2 on Nov. 5.
"Gusto po nating imungkahi sa gobyerno na panahon na ngayon para tutukan natin ang kakayahan sa contact tracing kasi alam ko po marami nang ginagawa on this area pero hindi po talaga natin maayos-ayos ng ayon sa ating pangangailangan (We want to suggest to the government that now is the time for us to focus on contact tracing because I know a lot is already being done in this area but we can't really organize it according to our needs)," Dr. Aileen Espina, committee member of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC), said in an interview with TeleRadyo.
"Sa gayun, maaga po nating malalaman kung sino yung mga taong dapat mag-quarantine dahil sila ay na-expose (That way we will know early on who are the individuals who should be quarantined because they have been exposed)," she stressed.
Espina also reminded the public not to be complacent and continue adhering to minimum public health standards.
The group also urged more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to attain herd immunity faster.
"Umaapela po kami na ang lahat po sana ay magpabakuna. Yun po ay patuloy naming isinusulong, ang pagbabakuna po ng lahat hanggang yung herd immunity na inaasam natin para sa buong Pilipinas, hindi lamang po sa NCR. Hindi po tayo makakaahon kung hindi po tayo sabay-sabay (We appeal to everyone, please get vaccinated. That's what we're promoting, the vaccination of everyone until we achieve herd immunity for the whole Philippines, not just in the NCR, we can't rise above this if we're not all in this together)," Espina added.
Earlier, National Task Force against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez said the government is eyeing to achieve its targeted average daily vaccination rate of at least one million up to 1.5 million doses beginning Nov. 30.
To achieve this goal, Galvez said there's a need to activate around 4,000 to 5,000 vaccination sites operating nationwide which can accommodate at least 500 vaccinees daily.