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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider QC gov't can do more in COVID-19 response - Rep. Defensor

QC gov't can do more in COVID-19 response - Rep. Defensor

Published Jan 12, 2022 02:56 pm

Quezon City mayoral aspirant and Anakalusugan Partylist Representative Micheal "Mike" Defensor said on Wednesday, Jan.12, that the city government can do more when it comes to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response.

Defensor made the statement after the city's COVID-19 cases went up to 202,614 from 180,400 only from Jan. 5 to 11 based on the Department of Health's (DOH) tracker.

"There’s no question the Quezon City government, which has a lot of financial resources at its disposal, can do more to suppress new infections,” Defensor said.

Defensor also said that the city government can improve public access and fast real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing to immediately identify and isolate those who tested positive for COVID-19.

He said that additional contact tracers can also be trained and hired, which is one way of providing temporary employment to those who have lost their jobs.

“The local government’s excuse that infections are naturally high because of Quezon City’s huge population of 2.94 million simply does not hold water,” Defensor said.

He added that if a large population is the cause of very high COVID-19 cases, then Cavite (3.68 million residents) and Laguna (3.04 million residents) should have more cases documented than the city.

“However, as of Jan. 11, Cavite’s cumulative caseload stood at only 176,330, while Laguna had only 132,095, both of which are considerably less than Quezon City’s." he said.

Defensor said that the Omicron variant surge should not be underestimated, as it can quickly infect a large portion of the population within two months, citing the World Health Organization's warning.

In November 2020, Defensor and three House members urged the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to take over the city's COVID-19 pandemic response.

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