The two-week time-out granted by President Duterte to the medical community is “not enough” to address the problems within the country’s healthcare system, House Health Committee Chairwoman Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan said Sunday.

(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

The House leader said the medical workers should be given more time and leeway to strategize and come up with a definite plan to address the problems hounding the country’s healthcare system.

"Actually to tell you honestly, hindi talaga siya enough (the 15-day breather is not enough), like for example, almost one week na tayo (we’re almost one week) and hindi natin nakikita ang (we have not seen any) changes in the numbers nung ating (of our) cases so ‘yung two weeks is not enough para talagang maachieve natin ang target na mapababa ang numero ng kaso (to achieve out target to reduce the number of cases),” she told the DZBB in an interview.

PCOO COVID-19 cases rise to 97

The number of COVID-19 cases at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) reached 97 Sunday as more employees in the agency were tested for the disease.

Three more PCOO employees recovered from the virus, bringing the number of recoveries to 18 from 15 last week.

At the House of Representatives (HoR), another employee tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of House employees and officials infected by the disease to 37. Three have died.

The PCOO recorded the following cases as of Aug. 9: PCOO Proper – 23 active, seven recoveries, one death; APO Production Unit – nine active, one recovery, one death; Bureau of Broadcast Service (BBS) – one recovery; National Printing Office (NPO) – 32 active; PTV-4 – Five active, one recovery, one death; Philippine Information Agency (PIA) – five recoveries; Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) – five active, three recoveries; and the News and Information Bureau (NIB) – two active.

Lockdowns effective in controlling COVID-19

Tan said the imposition of lockdown remains “effective” in controlling the number of COVID-19 cases.

The medical doctor-turned-lawmaker took opportunity to appeal to the public to strictly follow the government’s health and quarantine protocols, citing the current plight of the medical community.

“Importante talaga ang suporta ng Pilipino (The support of all Filipinos is very important) na makiisa tayo sa panawagan ng ating mga namumuno (let us heed the call of our leaders), ng ating mga (of our) medical frontliners, talagang pagod na pagod na (They are really dead tired and exhausted). Kung alam nila ang sitwasyon sa (If they only know the situation in the) heath facilities especially sa (in the) NCR, talagang nakakaawa na ang doctors , nurse, medtechs (are pitiful), lahat sila nakakaawa na (all of them are in pitiful condition),” Tan said.

She also stressed the need for the local government units (LGUs) to strengthen its contract tracing capacity to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 infection, particularly among the locally-stranded individuals.

The House leader said the national government should have implemented “straightforward policies” to strengthen its testing capacity, explaining the rapid testing should not have been allowed as advised by medical experts.

Tan also noted that the Department of Health (DOH) has failed to immediately consider the recommendation of the House to look into the pooled reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing as a way to help prevent the spread the infection.

She said they made the recommendation to the DOH last March and "it is only now that it is being done.”

Argyll Geducos & Charissa Luci-Atienza

House leader: Two-week MECQ not enough