The national government was urged not to loosen the country’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) protocols yet because the Philippines is not yet “out of the woods” in terms of the COVID-19 surge, a public health expert said on Monday, Jan. 24.
Health reform advocate and former National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Anthony “Tony” Leachon said that it is not yet the right time to relax the COVID-19 protocols in the country.
“I think it’s not timely at this point to loosen up the quarantine guidelines or protocol because right now we are definitely in a surge and we are not yet out of the woods based on the data that we have recently,” Leachon said in an ANC interview.
He added that the country had over 29,000 new cases with a COVID-19 positivity rate of around 41.8 percent on Jan. 23.
“The testings are not yet adequate and I think the cases that we have right now are underreported, given the fact that maybe the rapid antigen tests were not actually included in the data of the Department of Health (DOH),” he said.
Loosening up the guidelines and protocols amid an ongoing surge may be a “counterintuitive” move according to the public health expert. He likewise stated that Metro Manila may be doing well, but the adjacent regions such as CALABARZON and Central Luzon are seeing an increase in infections.
“There’s no sign right now of a downward trajectory in order to loosen up our guidelines,” he added.
Meanwhile, NTF against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa on Jan. 22, said that there is a possibility that Metro Manila’s COVID-19 Alert Level status will be downgraded by February if the infections continue to decline.