CEBU CITY, (23 May 2020) — The key to effectively addressing the COVID-19 situation in the country rests on the strong collaboration between local government units (LGU) and the private sector.
This was stressed by National Task Force on COVID-19 (NTF COVID-19) Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. during a virtual press conference here after meeting today with local government officials to assess the health situation in the area.
“Nandito po kami para makita ang kalagayan ng ating mga Cebuanos and laboratories. Ako po ay natutuwa na maganda ang coordination ng LGU at private sector, at tsaka maganda ang leadership,” Galvez said.
He lauded the city government for conducting “massive testing using antibody (rapid testing kits) which is [a] model we are also using in the NCR.”
“But the testing here is extensive [ang] nature na ginagawa ng testing dito, napakaganda,” Galvez said.
Asked by a member of media if the country was winning the war against the virus, he said there are encouraging signs that the COVID-19 curve is starting to plateau.
“I believe yes, if we’ll have the medical thresholds on deaths. When we analyze the new cases, the new cases [have] already plateaued,” Galvez said.
Targeted testing
During yesterday’s presser (May 22) Galvez clarified that expanded and targeted testing is currently being done across the country instead of mass testing.
“Ang talagang tinetest lang natin ay yung kailangan lang matest, yung tinatawag nating symptomatic, ‘yung mga vulnerable [sectors] at frontliners, at mga suspected at probable cases. Ito po ang pinagtutuunan natin ng pansin na ma-test,” Galvez said.
A major indicator, he said, that the government’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic is working is the recent decline in the daily number of COVID-related deaths in the country.
On May 15, the country registered 15 deaths, followed by 11 deaths the following day. On May 17 and 18, seven deaths were recorded for each day.
This trend was followed by six deaths on May 19, five on May 20, and only four on May 21.
“Our ultimate goal is to reach zero deaths per day. We will continue what we are doing now and even scale up efforts so we can detect more cases, isolate them and treat them,” Galvez said.
Meanwhile, NTF COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President Vivencio Dizon said that three molecular laboratories have been established in Central Visayas.
“The key to preventing another wave of this virus and slowly reopening the economy in Cebu is to build our testing capacity for PCR tests,” Dizon said.
He explained the strategies being carried out by the government to boost the testing capabilities of LGUs in Central Visayas.
“First, is to increase the capacity of the two existing government laboratories, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, and the DOH (Department of Health) TB-reference lab,” Dizon said.
The second strategy, he said, is to bring automated extractor machines to these laboratories, which will increase their testing capacity to 2,000 per day.
“Last, we want to add two more laboratories in Cebu — one in the Mactan International Airport and another private laboratory in Cebu Doctors donated by Unilab. We hope that these will be accredited in the next two to three weeks.” Dizon said.
In the meantime, Presidential Adviser for the Visayas Michael Diño thanked Galvez and Dizon for visiting Central Visayas and overseeing the government’s efforts to ramp up the region’s testing capacity.
“I’d like to thank you for coming over and for showing that the national government cares for Cebu and for Visayas. Chief Implementer is here to support us by bringing additional labs. So daghang salamat (thank you very much).”
“We’d like to thank the people of Cebu and we’re happy for your preparedness. We are so happy with the collective decision and preparations that you have, and I’d like to thank Sec. Dino for the collaborative response that he instituted in Cebu,” Galvez said.
He also underscored the invaluable role of the private sector in bolstering the nation’s testing capacity, saying that the government will continue to nurture this partnership as the country transitions to the “new normal.”
“Nais po nating tumaas din ang kapasidad ng ating mga pribadong sektor upang magsagawa ng testing. Ito po ay mutual and symbiotic arrangement kung saan marami rin ang mga ospital sa buong bansa na pinapatakbo ng mga pribadong kompanya.”
As of May 22, the DOH has recorded 56 new coronavirus cases in Central Visayas, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 1,949. Of this number, 57 recovered, and 28 have died.
The number of positive cases in Central Visayas has accounted for 14.3% of the 13,597 total number of cases in the country.
The NTF officials also turned-over at least 1,000 personal protective equipment (PPEs) to the Cebu City LGU during the visit.###
