NEWS | State of COVID-19 Response: Medical Community Demands for a Medical Quarantine
By: The News Team
President Rodrigo Duterte announced on August 2 the revision of the reversion of selected areas in Luzon from General Community Quarantine (GCQ) to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) effective from August 4 to August 18. The decision was made after frontliners called for a stricter quarantine status in Mega Manila.
As of writing, the Philippines has recorded a total of 126,885 COVID-19 cases, and is now ranking 22nd with most COVID-19 cases in the world. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Western Pacific Region (WPR), the country ranked 1st out of 37 member states with the disease contraction. The Philippines surpassed China, which is currently ranked 30th in the world and 2nd in the WPR with 84,596 COVID-19 cases.
Amidst controversies surrounding the government’s pandemic response, the medical community amplified its call for a demilitarized medical quarantine.
“Pagod na pagod na kami”
Consequently, last August 1, different medical societies held a virtual press conference in which they appealed to the government to re-impose Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Mega Manila (which is composed of Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, and Mimaropa) from August 1–15 to recalibrate strategies against COVID-19.
Dr. Antonio Dans, a member of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), claimed that the two-week lockdown will give an opportunity for the government to discuss strategies with medical professionals.
Prominent figures in the medical community also expressed their exhaustion during the press conference. Philippine Medical Association (PMA) President Jose Santiago said that health workers are already burnt out due to the increasing number of COVID-19 patients needing emergency care and admission.
Encarnita Limpin, Vice President of PCP, was concerned that more healthcare workers (HCWs) are contracting the virus as they take care of patients. Aside from being overworked, she recalled that there are less HCWs available to serve the public.
Having the same sentiment, Dr. Lei Camiling of Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians reiterated that the situation is not getting better. She confessed that the current situation is far worse than what they have experienced in the prior months.
On the same day, a joint letter signed by more than 80 medical societies was sent to the office of the President. The letter recommended that a two-week lockdown should be implemented to address urgent problems concerning healthcare workforce and safety.
Duterte’s response
On August 2, Duterte partly heeded the call of frontliners. He stated that a more relaxed MECQ will be imposed on selected areas where COVID-19 cases are relatively high.
During his address, the President admitted that the government has no funds and can no longer provide financial assistance to the public. Subsequently, he also mentioned that a vaccine is needed before the government can lay out a recovery map for COVID-19.
At the same time, Duterte continued to target invalidating remarks towards the health workers. He pointed out that workers should have written the government a letter instead of airing out their complaints in public. He also accused HCWs of inciting a revolution against the government, referring to the joint letter sent by medical societies. In response, PCP President Dr. Mario Pangilinan defended that it has been three months since they submitted their letter to the Department of Health (DOH) and they have not received an adequate response from the government.
Comparatively, medical anthropologist Gideon Lasco argued that the government-imposed lockdown is the exact opposite of what health workers are asking for. He asserted that the President’s decision to threaten HCWs and ignore their demands are manifestations of his incompetent leadership.
“Problem with data interpretation”
Several government officials cast their doubts on the DOH’s reporting system. Last July 30, the DOH recorded an all-time high recovery of 38,075 COVID-19 patients. Senator Joel Villanueva argued that the released data is giving people a false sense of security.
“38k recoveries in one day only shows there’s a problem with data interpretation,” Villanueva remarked. “Mas kapani-paniwala pa ngayon yung mga palabas sa perya kesa sa mga binibigay sa ating reports.”
Senator Leila De Lima also stated that the DOH blatantly manipulated the data. She pointed out that this is not the first time DOH openly deceived the Filipino people. The recent data manipulation showed that the department is incapable of finding a solution to the ongoing health crisis.
In response, the DOH explained that the sudden rise in recoveries are due to the department’s enhanced data reconciliation efforts. Mild or asymptomatic cases which are tallied at 37,166 are now re-tagged as recovered. This is in accordance with the DOH Memorandum 2020–0258 or the Updated Interim Guidelines on Expanded Testing for COVID-19.
Furthermore, Senator Richard Gordon filed Senate Resolution 483 which seeks to probe the government’s response to the pandemic. He explained the need to reassess the current health situation of the country and to develop effective and science-based solutions for a renewed fight against COVID-19. He also urged the government to listen and provide enough benefits to the frontliners.
Demand for a medical quarantine
The public insisted that the government is using lockdowns to crack down on dissent and impose violence. Independent group Second Opinion, which is composed of health professionals, health workers, and health students, demanded the government for a demilitarized medical quarantine.
Correspondingly, the medical community is concerned that, even under MECQ, poor implementation of health measures by the local government units (LGUs) will still contribute to the transmission of the disease. With this, PCP suggested that the IATF and the medical community should come up with a standard way of implementing all health measures.
Concerning the previous sentiment, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Representative France Castro also suggested that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) be headed by medical experts instead of generals who only imposed military solutions to combat the health crisis.
In the end, the medical community stressed that if the healthcare system collapses, it is the people who will be the most compromised.
“Winning the war against COVID-19 relies heavily on being able to keep our health system capacitated to address the needs of all Filipinos,” Santiago concluded.
