COVI

D-19cas
esupi
nsomeMet
roMani
l
aLGUs

By
:Kat
hleendeVi
l
la-3weeksago

Met
roMani
l
asky
li
neatni
ght
.STORY:
COVI
D-19cas
esupi
nsomeMet
roMani
l
aLGUs

Met
roMani
l
asky
li
neatni
ght(
INQUI
RERFI
LEPHOTO/JI
LSONSECKLERTI
U)

MANI LA,Phil
i
ppines— Whil
eallar
easinMetr
oManil
aremai
natmini
malri
sk,
thenumberofact
i
ve
casesinsixci
ti
esandonemuni ci
pali
t
yhasrecor
dedaposi
ti
vegr
owthrat
eduri
ngthepas
tweek,
accordi
ngt ot
heDepartmentofHealt
h(DOH).

Thelocal
governmentunits(
LGUs )t
hatr
egist
eredposit
i
veone-weekgrowthratesf
romApr i
l12t
o
Apri
l18werePateros(100percent)
,Navot
as(80percent)
,LasPi
ñas(27.3percent
),Par
añaque
(16.
4percent)
,Tagui
g( 7.
5percent)
,Munti
nl
upa( 14.
3percent
)andMariki
na(10percent
).The
DOHdi dnotprovi
deas peci
fi
cnumberofcasesineacharea.

Act
i
v eCOVID-
19inf
ecti
onsint
hes
ecit
iesasofApr
il
18wereasfoll
ows
:18inPat
eros
,74i
n
Navotas,
275i
nLasPiñas,
413inPar
añaque,365i
nTagui
g,196inMunti
nl
upaand271i
n
Mari
kina.

Ther
ewerenodatacov
eringt
heprev
iousdaythatcoul
dbeusedforcompar
isonbecausethe
DOHs t
oppedi
ssui
ngdail
ybul
let
i
nsonMar ch6andhads i
ncerel
easedweekl
yreport
sinst
ead.

OnWednes day,
thenati
onwi
decasetal
lyofnewCOVI D-19casesmor et
handoubledto365,
br
ingingthet ot
alnumberofi
nfect
i
onsto3,683,
732sincethes t
artoft
hepandemi
c. Thisrefl
ect
ed
asignif
icantjumpfromTuesday’sdail
ycountof158cas es,whi
chwasthelowestsingle-dayt
all
y
si
nceDec. 21lastyear
,whentheDOHrecorded168infecti
ons.
Thetotal
bedandint
ensi
vecar
eunit(I
CU)ut
i
li
zat
i
onratesincreasedi
nVal
enzuel
aCi
tyduet
o
reducednumberofdedi
cat
edbedsforCOVI
D-19pat
ients
, basedonApri
l16dat
a.

Meanwhi
l
e,ov
eral
lhos
pit
aladmi
ssi
onsf
orCOVI
D-19s
howeda“s
li
ghti
ncr
eas
e” i
nPas
igCi
t
y.

Proj
ect
ionsfr
omt heDOH’sFASSSTERt eams
howedthatacti
vecas
esmaycli
mbtoahi
ghof
300,
000nationwideand500,000inMetroMani
labyt
hemi ddl
eofMayifcompl
i
ancet
omini
mum
publ
icheal
thstandar
dsdecreasestoabout30t
o50percent.

FASSSTER—whi chst
andsforFeasi
bi
li
t
yAnal
ysi
sofSy
ndromicSur
vei
l
lanceusingSpat
i
o-
TemporalEpi
demiol
ogi
calModeler
—iscompos
edofexper
tswhoanal
yze,sur
veyanddetect
di
seases.

‘COVI
D-pr
oof
’ pol
l
s

Meanwhile,
voterswhomayhav eCOVI D-li
kesy
mpt omsonMay9, El
ect
ionDay,mays ti
l
lcast
thei
rvot
esatmakes hi
ftpol
l
ingareasbuttheywouldbeunabl
etorevi
ewtherecei
ptstoseeift
he
namestheys hadedontheball
otwerereadaccurat
elybyt
hevotecount
i
ngmachi nes(VCMs )
.

Thi
swasa“chall
enge’’ poi
ntedoutdur
ingaf
orumheldbyt
heAt
eneoSchool
ofGov
ernment
onTues
dayonhowtomaketheelect
i
ons“Cov i
d-pr
oof
.”

“Si ncet
hesevot
erswill
notbeintheclusteredpreci
nctand[voti
ng]recei
ptsarenotal
lowedtobe
takenoutofcl
ust
eredpreci
nct
s,theywill
notbeabl etodoublecheckthereceipt
stoseeifit
refl
ects[
thenames]onthebal
lotthatwasf ed[i
ntothevotecounti
ngmachines ]
,”saidlawyer
LeylannManuel
,presi
dentoft
heempl oyeesunionoft heCommi ss
ionElect
ions(Comelec).

UnderComelecResol
uti
onNo.10727,voter
swi l
lbescr
eenedbyamedicalper
s onnelbef
ore
proceedi
ngt
otheassi
gnedclus
teredpreci
nct.
Thos ef
oundtohavef
ever,
orat emperatur
eof37.
5
degreesCel
si
usorup,wil
lbeaskedtocastt
heirvot
eatthei
sol
ati
onpol
li
ngplace( I
PP).
Accordi
ngtoManuel
,t
hiswoul
dposea“sl
i
ghtprobl
em” fort
hevoter
,simil
art
othecas
eof
det
ainedpers
onswhoweresti
l
lal
l
owedt
ocastt
heirv
otesi
nprevi
ouselect
ions.

“[I
t]wi
ll
belikehowdet ai
nedpeopl
ev ot
e—ball
otswer
ebroughti
ndet
enti
onfaci
l
it
ies
,fedintothe
machi
neandt hens
entt othecl
ust
eredpreci
nct
s.Andsot
heywerenotabl
etoseethereceipt
any
more,” Manuelrecall
ed.

Therev
iewoft
hevot
i
ngr ecei
pt,
formal
l
ycall
edvot
erveri
fi
cat
ionpaperaudi
ttr
ail
orVVPAT,
ispar
t
oft
hecurr
entv
oti
ngprocessandisakeycomponenti
naudit
i
ngthev ot
ecount.

‘Nodi
senf
ranchi
sement
’

Sti
l
l,Manuel
saidther
e“wouldbenodi
senf
ranchi
sement
” becaus
eregi
st
eredv
oter
s,r
egar
dles
s
ofsymptoms,wil
lbeal
lowedt
ovot
eonMay9.

Heals
osai
dthatt
heComel
ecenbancmayi
ssuef
urt
hergui
del
i
nesont
hev
oti
ngpr
oces
satI
PPs
i
nthecomi
ngdays.

Atthes ameonl
inebri
efi
ng,
Heal
thUnders
ecr
etar
yMari
aRosar
ioVergei
reaskedt
heComel
ect
o
appoint“safet
yoff
icer
s” whowil
lf
aci
li
t
atet
hemanagementofvot
erswit
hCOVID-l
i
ke
symptoms .

TheDOHs pokesper
sonsaidthes
eoffi
cerss
houldreferpr
obabl
eCOVID-
19patient
stothe
concer
nedLGU, whi
chinturnwil
li
sol
ate,
testandl
aterrel
eas
ethepat
i
entsi
ffoundnegati
vef
or
thecor
onavi
rus.

Thesesaf et
yoffi
cerswil
lbedif
fer
entf
romthemedi calper
sonnelas
s i
gnedt
oscreent
he
temperaturesofvoter
saswellasthemars
halstaskedtopoli
cethosewhofai
lt
oadheret
oheal
t
h
prot
ocolswhi l
einsi
dethevot
ingareas
,Vergei
resaid.
St
ayi
nis
olat
i
on

Sheremi
ndedindi
vi
dualsconfi
rmedt
ohaveCOVI
D-19nott
oleav
ethei
ri
sol
ati
ons
paces
,whet
her
i
nthehospi
tal
s,f
aci
li
t
iesorthei
rownhomes,
onEl
ecti
onDay.

“I don’tt
hinkt
hati
twouldbepossi
blethatt
heywouldgooutofthehospit
alt
ovote—t
hey ’re
supposedt
obeisol
atedandthey
’r ebeingmanagedinthefaci
l
it
y—unlessComelecpr
ovides
al
ternat
i
vemechani
smsorprocessesforthemsotheycancastt
heirv
otesaswell
,
” Vergeir
esaid.

Comel
ecs pokesper
sonJamesJimenezear
li
ercl
ari
fi
edthatI
PPsar
efori
ndi
vi
dual
swhos how
COVI
D-l
ikes ymptomsandnotf
orpati
ent
salr
eadyconfi
rmedtohav
eCOVID-19andsupposedt
o
bei
nquaranti
ne.

COVID-
19pat i
entshavenochoicebutt
ogiv
eupthei
rri
ghttov
oteonMay9,
aft
ertheComel
ec
ear
li
ert
urneddownpr oposal
sfr
omhealthof
fi
ci
al
stocreat
eopti
onsf
ors
uchvot
ers
, s
uchasvot
i
ng
onl
i
neorv i
atextmessaging.

AstudybytheAteneoSchool
ofGover
nmentpubl
i
shedi
nJanuaryt
hisy
earest
imat
edthatt
he
governmentwoul
dneedaboutP17.
5bil
li
oni
naddi
ti
onal
fundst
o“COVI D-
proof”theMay9
el
ecti
ons.