By ANALOU DE VERA • JUN FENEQUITO
President Duterte declared a state of public health emergency in the country following the first confirmed case of local transmission of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 yesterday.
The Department of Health earlier in the day confirmed the presence of local transmission of COVID-19 and recommended to Malacanang the declaration of a state of public health emergency.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the previously reported fifth case of COVID-19 in the country involving a 62-year-old man was considered the first case of local transmission in the Philippines after verification with the Bureau of Immigration showing that the patient had no recent travel history to any country with cases of COVID-19.
The 59-year-old wife of the patient was also found positive for the disease, making her the sixth confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country. She manifested cough and was admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City last March 5.
RITM director Dr. Celia Carlos reported that the woman as well as the country’s fourth confirmed case of COVID-19 – a 48-year-old Filipino lawyer – were both in stable condition, citing that they just have “mild respiratory symptoms.”
The 62-year-old man was described to be in guarded condition, said Carlos.
“He still has severe pneumonia plus other medical problems like diabetes and hypertension – and the recently identified another medical problem which is acute kidney injury which may be due to multiple factors present in the patient,” said Carlos.
Despite having “only two cases constituting localized transmission,” Duque said that they recommended to the Office of the President the declaration of a State of Public Health Emergency which is expected to be signed by Duterte tomorrow.
Duque said that they are raising the COVID-19 alert system to Code Red Sublevel 1.
“This is a preemptive call to ensure that national and local governments and public and private health care providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases,” he explained.
“At this stage of localized transmission, intensified contact tracing and home quarantine of close contacts of confirmed cases, improved hospital preparedness, enhanced Severe Acute Respiratory Illness surveillance, and activation of other laboratories outside of RITM to increase capacity to diagnose are now being implemented,” he said.
STATE OF PUBLIC
HEALTH EMERGENCY
Sen. Bong Go said Duterte yesterday agreed to issue a declaration of a State of Public Health Emergency due to the confirmation of local transmission of COVID-19.
Go said the declaration of the President came from his suggestion as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and recommendation of the DoH.
The senator had earlier said the declaration of State of Public Emergency will be one step ahead proactive.
Go said the declaration facilitates immediate access to funding to respond to the issue, particularly for the local government units.
“Under Republic Act (RA) 10121, such declaration allows the LGUs to utilize their local disaster risk reduction management funds,” he said.
“The declaration eases processes on procurement, mandatory reporting, mandatory quarantine and travel restrictions, among others,” Go added.
He said the declaration will also serve as basis for possible price freeze under Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act.
Go urged all citizens, residents, tourists, and establishment owners to act within the bounds of the law and comply with the lawful directives and advisories to be issued to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
The senator added that he will also recommend to the President the creation of a crisis committee through an expansion of the membership of the Inter-Agency Task Force to include other instrumentalities of the government, including LGUs, to fight the possible disease spread more effectively. (With a report from PNA and Mario Casayuran)