Updates from the August 18, 2020 IATF-EID Briefing

Here are updates from the 18 August 2020 IATF-EID briefing:

1. IATF-EID RESOLUTION NO. 64

• All provinces, HUCs, and ICCs are directed to observe strict enforcement of the following measures:

- Implementation of localized community quarantine in identified areas with community transmission

- Minimum public health standards in high-risk areas such as healthcare settings, wet markets, supermarkets, government offices, workplaces, public transportation, and areas with increased economic activity

- Active surveillance and case finding and immediate facility-based quarantine

- Immediate facility-based isolation

- Ensuring availability and/or scaling up of isolation/quarantine facilities in priority/critical areas

- Scaling up of local health system capacity, especially critical care

- Submission of complete and accurate data through COVID KAYA and DOH DataCollect

• Considering the continuing state of public health emergency, the overseas deployment of medical and allied health workers is temporarily suspended.

2. IATF-EID RESOLUTION NO. 63-A: STRATEGY REFRESH

• Goal: Reduce COVID and non-COVID deaths

• Outcome: Reduce transmission rates and ramp up health system capacity; recover the economy

• Strategy: Expanding the tracing, extracting, and isolating strategies for COVID-19 asymptomatics and mild cases, including suspect cases

• Ban on poultry products from Brazil

3. GCQ GUIDELINES

• Mass transportation allowed again under GCQ

• Under GCQ, persons may only leave homes for essential goods and services, work in allowed sectors, and if they are authorized.

• Workers not required to undergo RT-PCR to return to work

• Religious services in GCQ allowed to 10 persons or 10\% capacity, whichever is higher

• Not allowed: Individuals below 21, 60 and above, those with comorbidity or other health risks, and pregnant women

4. UPDATES ON TESTING

• RT-PCR Test for identified priority workers

- All workers and employees of manufacturing companies and public service providers registered in economic zones located in special concern areas MAY be tested every 3 months

- Employees in hospitality and tourism sectors in El Nido, Boracay, Coron, Panglao, Siargao, and other tourist zones as identified and declared by the DOT MAY be tested once every 4 months

- Frontline and economic priority workers, defined as those who work in high priority sectors, both public and private, have high interaction with and exposure to the public and who live or work in special concern areas, MAY be tested every 3 months

- According to Testing Czar Vince Dizon, more than 2 million tests already conducted

5. UPDATES ON TRACING

• Philippines has 14,348 contact tracing teams with 145,733 members

• According to Tracing Czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, reasons for the poor performance of LGUs:

- No active involvement of LCEs

- More priorities to other anti-COVID-19 activities ssuch as relief operations

- LGUs are overwhelmed by the large number of cases

- Contact tracing teams are not incentivized

- LGUs fail to realize in context the importance of CT

- Lack of trained contact tracers

- Lack of funds to support CT operations

• Virtual training of LGUs per region on contact tracing ongoing

• According to Mayor Magalong, case-to-close contact ratio in NCR is now at 1:5. He says ideal ratio should be 1:30.

6. UPDATES ON TREATMENT

• Philippines is targeting 12,400 COVID-19 beds for Metro Manila, 3,500 beds for Visayas, and 3,800 beds for Mindanao

• Target of the government is to construct care facilities that can accept up to 12,427 patients in Luzon, 3,565 care facility beds in Visayas, and 3,893 care facility beds in Mindanao

• Pop-up modular hospitals being planned for construction

7. OTHER UPDATES

• Government is targeting to purchase 2 doses of vaccine per person for 20 million Filipinos from low-income households.