CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Pampanga — National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer and Testing Czar Secretary Vince Dizon highlighted Wednesday the two most important interventions needed to reduce coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
During the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team Visit in Region 3, he noted that cases in Central Luzon are on the rise as a result of the gradual opening of the economy.
“We all know that when we reopen the economy, more people tend to go out, thereby increasing their activities and contact among them. However, we cannot shut down the economy forever, because if we do that, it will not be COVID-19 that will kill us, but hunger, unemployment, and lack of income of our countrymen,” Dizon said.
With this, the testing czar assured that under the 2nd Phase of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19, it is possible to slowly open up the economy while managing or limiting the number of cases.
“It’s possible to do and achieve both as long as we work together and focus our efforts on two very important interventions,” Dizon said.
First, he said, is the need for strict enforcement and strict compliance to minimum health standards, which, according to experts, may prevent virus transmission up to 85 to 90%.
“Everyone should adhere to minimum health standards such as wearing of face masks, using alcohol or hand sanitizer, frequent handwashing, and physical distancing of at least one meter. That is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective intervention that everyone can do,” the official said.
Dizon also underscored the importance of detection and isolation.
“It is very crucial to isolate confirmed and symptomatic cases quickly. Our rule should be no home quarantine as much as possible, because it is contagious especially at the household level,” he said.
Dizon said that if these two interventions will be properly observed and implemented, cases in the country will continuously decline.
“We have seen it in Cebu. Now we are seeing it in the National Capital Region, that when we observe minimum health standards, alongside quick detection and isolation, we can beat the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.