ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider WHO tells PH to ensure enough number of medical workers amid rising COVID-19 cases

WHO tells PH to ensure enough number of medical workers amid rising COVID-19 cases

Published Aug 25, 2021 12:59 pm

WHO / AFP

The World Health Organization (WHO) urged the Philippine government to ensure that there is a sufficient number of healthcare workers amid the ongoing spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.

WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr. Takeshi Kasai said that the Philippines is one of the countries in the region that is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

"It is not only in the capital but multiple provinces are experiencing a surge...and in some places they are experiencing the hospitals are overwhelmed. We heard that healthcare workers are all really exhausted," Kasai said in a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Kasai said that the Philippine government is currently increasing the country's healthcare capacity to accommodate more patients. However, Kasai emphasized the importance of manpower not just hospital beds.

"What is important is actually not just beds but to make sure there are doctors and nurses and there's also sufficient equipment----and also the support to those working very hard," he said.

Kasai said that “lockdown alone” is not effective in addressing the rising number of cases.

“We know that lockdown alone cannot really reduce the transmission down. It is very important to identify and know where the infections are occurring and suppress that. Also, using that information for risk based measures so that you can effectively suppress the transmissions,” he said.

Highest number of cases in ‘previous 24 hours’

The Philippines has led countries in the Western Pacific Region with the highest number of COVID-19 infections recorded in the “previous 24 hours,” based on the data of the WHO-Western Pacific Region.

The other countries that logged a high number of new COVID-19 cases include Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, said Dr. Tamano Matsui, WHO's Programme Area Manager for Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment in the Western Pacific.

Based on the data of WHO-Western Pacific as of Aug. 24, the Philippines logged 18,322 cases, followed by Japan with 17,993; Malaysia with 17,672; and Vietnam with 10,397.

Meanwhile, Matsui said that China, Singapore, and Mongolia managed to “suppress” their COVID-19 infections.

”Recently, many countries in the region have reported an increasing trend in cases,” said Matsui.

“Factors that have likely contributed to this increase include: widely circulating virus, especially Delta variant; insufficient public health and social measures (PHSMs) and/or non-compliance with existing PHSMs,” she added.

“Another important factor is difficulty in detecting asymptomatic or mild cases--these cases can maintain chain of transmission in the community,” she furthered.

Ways to suppress the cases

Matsui noted that the Delta coronavirus variant is highly transmissible.

“Early detection of community transmission and implementation of public health and social measures are key in suppressing transmission and minimizing impact,” she said.

Matsui also said that vaccination helps to prevent severe cases and that the vaccination of “high-risk” population groups is important.

“Vaccination paired with appropriate PHSMs is the way to prevent transmission,” she said.

Related Tags

delta variant world health organization western pacific region Philippines
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.