Zamboanga under MECQ needed: Health Experts

‘DOH, Health Sector Favor Stricter Quarantine Status’

WHILE POLITICAL propagandists and peddlers of fake news continue to criticize the extension of the stricter quarantine status of Zamboanga City and efforts of the local government to control the spread of the deadly Covuid-19, the Department of Health and the local health sector said otherwise.

The DOH and medical professionals have welcomed and strongly supported the decision of the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF-MEID for placing Zamboanga City under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine status until end of May. 

DOH Regional Director Joshua Brillantes appealed to residents to strictly follow health protocols, especially now that Covid-19 cases are increasing. 

“This is with regards to the decision of the (national government’s) IATF-(MEID) on the extension of MECQ for Zamboanga City. So, first of all, as you can see in the matrix that Zamboanga now is the number one city in the whole country that has presented a severe increase in the number of Covid cases, and with that (high) number of Covid cases, the number (also) of those that need to be hospitalized ay mataas na rin and our hospitals were already reporting severe to critical level, especially in the utilization of health care capacity and this is one of the thing that the health sector is very afraid of, especially if we will be overwhelming too much the hospitals, so our health care (system) will collapse and (with that) alam na natin na patients can no longer go to the hospitals so ang kawawa doon is yun may severe or critical, and even those with moderate (Covid) cases,” Brillantes said. 

“So we are already fighting this Covid (pandemic) for over a year now and our health care workers are also becoming tired. They are also human being at kailangan rin nila ng rest. So with the declaration of MECQ, what we want to happen is really to reduce or limit the movement ng mga tao and we have observed this last year and we can see the reduction of (Covid) cases ng ma-implement ang ECQ, then MECQ so that’s why, since maganda naman ang result niya, we hope now with this MECQ - the government is putting Zamboanga City we can reduce the infection, transmission rate and if we reduce the people who are sick or treated with Covid-19, yun hospitalization will also reduce,” he added.

Brillantes said health care workers are now overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, both in private and government hospitals. “So second, yun problem natin especially sa hospitalization, our health care (workers) have already started to be overwhelmed, so pagod na sila and some of them have accepted other job opportunities abroad or they transferred to other work which is more safer that what they are doing (in the hospitals). Komo-konti (na) yun personnel natin and then ko-konti rin ang (mga) nag-apply kasi medyo takot nga. Yum immunization talaga is very important and it reduce the number of infections, we encourage yun mga kababayan natin, na this time we are in MECQ, dapat susundin talaga natin (ang health protocols), dapat we have to limit yun movement, kundi naman essentials yun gagawin ng mga tao, huwag na munang lalabas (ng bahay). Let us all preserve our health care (system) kasi once yun health care (workers) natin ay ma-overwhelm or they cannot manage, especially in the number of cases, lahat tayo maa-apektuhan,” he said.

Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, has repeatedly appealed to residents to follow the health protocols, but many locals are complacent while others, who are ignorant of the grave risks posed by the virus, think the deadly respiratory disease was simply not true.

“La situacion ahora es muy peligrosa debido al Covid-19. Muchas personas estan infectadas y muchas mueren a causa del virus. Quien mas necesita morir para que la gente siga los protocolos de salud? Serea tu amigo, tus vecinos, tu familia o tu? Covid-19 no es una broma: el virus no elige personas, lugares o tiempo y todos pueden enfermarse y morir,” Climaco said.

Climaco’s political critics have nothing to do, but blame the mayor for everything from the high number of Covid-19 cases to the lack of vaccines and probably even for the past typhoons. They also doubled their efforts in spreading black propaganda and fake news on social media – ahead of next year’s polls and in an effort to cast doubt on the local government’s Covid-19 response despite the mayor’s various awards and commendations from DOH and the Department of the Interior and Local Government or DILG, among others.

For the past six years since Climaco defeated former congressman Celso Lobregat, the political attacks never ends with every social ill being blamed to the mayor. Everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at Climaco.

The sudden spike in Covid-19 infections here - from just under three dozen active cases in early March to probably around 3,000 by end of May - occurred following the easing of travel restrictions by the national government and the revival of the tourism industry in the country.

The uniformed travel protocols were approved by IATF-MEID under Resolution No. 101 which foregoes documentary requirements such as RT-PCR testing and medical certificate for travellers across the country. It was crafted by the DILG, the Philippine National Police, the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the League of Provinces of the Philippines, the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, and the League of Cities of the Philippines to revive the economy.

Covid-19 Variants

It was aggravated by the spread of the new Covid-19 variants and the surge in Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga City may have been caused by these strains that are now plaguing the National Capital Region and other provinces in the country.

The Department of Health has confirmed the presence of Covid-19 U.K. variant in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur from 2 overseas Filipino workers who arrived home from Kuwait and Abu Dhabi in February. 

The sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the country was largely blamed on the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 or Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019 and quickly spread across the globe.

But there are also other variants and these are the following:

A variant identified in the U.K. (B.1.1.7). This Covid-19 variant appears to spread more easily and might have an increased risk of death.

A variant identified in South Africa (B.1.351). This variant appears to spread more easily. It also has a moderate impact on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody medications and moderately reduces the effectiveness of antibodies generated by a previous Covid-19 infection or Covid-19 vaccine.

A variant identified in Japan/Brazil (P.1). This variant has a moderate impact on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody medications. It also reduces the effectiveness of antibodies generated by a previous Covid-19 infection or a Covid-19 vaccine.

A variant identified in the U.S. (California) (B.1.427). This variant appears to spread more easily. It also has a significant impact on the effectiveness of some treatments and moderately reduces the effectiveness of antibodies generated by a previous Covid-19 infection or Covid-19 vaccine.

A variant identified in the U.S. (California) (B.1.429). This variant appears to spread more easily. It also has a significant impact on the effectiveness of some treatments and moderately reduces the effectiveness of antibodies generated by a previous Covid-19 infection or Covid-19 vaccine.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also monitoring two variants identified in New York — B.1.526 and B.1.525 — and another variant identified in Brazil — P.2.

But a new Covid-19 variant, officially designated as Lineage P.3, was also detected in the Philippines in March this year as reported by the Philippine Genome Center. (Zamboanga Post)

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