F E A T U R E & OP IN ION

FEATURE
WHO CALLS FOR URGENT, AGGRESSIVE ACTIONS TO COMBAT COVID-19, AS CASES
SOAR IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA REGION

• IMG SOURCE:HTTPS
://WWW.WHO.INT/SOUTHEASTASIA/NEWS/DETAIL/17-03-2020-WHO-CALLS-FOR-URGENT-AGGRESSIV
E-ACTIONS-TO-COMBAT-COVID-19-AS-CASES-SOAR-IN-SOUTH-EAST-ASIA-REGION
• THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TODAY CALLED ON MEMBER STATES IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA REGION TO URGENTLY SCALE-UP AGGRESSIVE MEASURES TO COMBAT
COVID-19, AS CONFIRMED CASES CROSS 480, AND THE DISEASE CLAIMS EIGHT LIVES.“THE SITUATION IS EVOLVING RAPIDLY. WE NEED TO IMMEDIATELY SCALE UP
ALL EFFORTS TO PREVENT THE VIRUS FROM INFECTING MORE PEOPLE,” SAID DR POONAM KHETRAPAL SINGH, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO SOUTH-EAST ASIA REGION.

• EIGHT OF THE 11 COUNTRIES OF WHO SOUTH-EAST ASIA REGION HAVE CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19. WHILE THAILAND HAS 177 CONFIRMED CASES, INDONESIA
134, INDIA 125, SRI LANKA 19, MALDIVES 13, BANGLADESH 5, NEPAL AND BHUTAN ONE EACH. THESE NUMBERS ARE INCREASING QUICKLY.“MORE CLUSTERS OF
VIRUS TRANSMISSION ARE BEING CONFIRMED. WHILE THIS IS AN INDICATION OF AN ALERT AND EFFECTIVE SURVEILLANCE, IT ALSO PUTS THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE
NEED FOR MORE AGGRESSIVE AND WHOLE OF SOCIETY EFFORTS TO PREVENT FURTHER SPREAD OF COVID-19. WE CLEARLY NEED TO DO MORE, AND URGENTLY,” THE
REGIONAL DIRECTOR SAID.

• LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS, SOME COUNTRIES ARE CLEARLY HEADING TOWARDS COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION OF COVID-19, THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR SAID,
ADDING THIS SHOULD BEST BE PREVENTED.OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE ARE CONTINUED EFFORTS TO DETECT, TEST, TREAT, ISOLATE AND TRACE CONTACTS.SIMPLE
PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES ARE CRITICAL. PRACTICING HAND HYGIENE, COVERING YOUR COUGH AND SNEEZE, AND PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING CANNOT BE
EMPHASIZED ENOUGH, DR KHETRAPAL SINGH SAID. “THIS ALONE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE TRANSMISSION.”

• HOWEVER, IF COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION DOES SET IN, COUNTRIES WOULD NEED TO GEAR THEIR RESPONSES TO SLOW DOWN TRANSMISSION, AS WELL AS END
OUTBREAKS.EMERGENCY MECHANISM WOULD THEN NEED TO BE FURTHER SCALED UP. A NETWORK OF HEALTH FACILITIES AND HOSPITALS FOR TRIAGE AND SURGE
WOULD NEED TO BE ACTIVATED TO AVOID OVERCROWDING.

• SELF-INITIATED ISOLATION BY PEOPLE WITH MILD DISEASES WOULD CONTINUE TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMUNITY INTERVENTION TO REDUCE THE BURDEN
ON HEALTH SYSTEM AND REDUCE VIRUS TRANSMISSION.TESTING OF ALL SUSPECTED CASES, SYMPTOMATIC CONTACTS OF PROBABLE AND CONFIRMED CASES,
WOULD STILL BE NEEDED.

• “WE NEED TO BE GEARED TO RESPOND TO THE EVOLVING SITUATION WITH THE AIM TO STOP TRANSMISSION OF COVID-19 AT THE EARLIEST TO MINIMIZE THE
IMPACT OF THE VIRUS THAT HAS GRIPPED OVER 150 COUNTRIES IN A SHORT SPAN OF TIME, CAUSING SUBSTANTIAL LOSS TO HEALTH OF PEOPLE, SOCIETIES,
COUNTRIES AND ECONOMIES. URGENT AND AGGRESSIVE MEASURES ARE THE NEED OF THE HOUR. WE NEED TO ACT NOW,” THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR SAID.
OPINION
JP GALANG SAYS

• BASE ON MY OPINION IF IN THE FIRST PLACE THE PRESIDENT LOCKDOWN THE AIRPORT THE CORONA
VIRUS OR COVID19 WILL NOT SPREAD IN OUR COUNTRY. SO IF THEY DID THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE NO
ONE WILL BE INFECT WE WILL BE MORE SAFER THAN THE OTHER COUNTRIESIN THIS SITUATION THE ONLY
HOPE IS TRUST ON THE GEVERMENT AND GOD BUT YOU CAN HELP YOURSELF BY GIVING YOURSELF A SELF
QUARANTINE AND THEN IF YOU WILL GO OUT DONT FORGET TO WEAR A MASK FOR YOUR SAFETY. IN THE
PHILIPINES MOST PLACES ARE IN LOCKDOWN OTHERS ARE NOT ESPECIALLY IN THE MINDANAO REGIONIN
THE CHINA THEY DID A 1 MONTH AND 2 WEEKS LOCKDOWN AND NOW AFTER THAT LOCKDOWN CHINA
HAD LESSEN THE INFECTION RATEBASE ON SOME RUMOR'S THEY SAID CORONA VIRUS IS A MANMADE
VIRUS AND NOT GET FROM ANIMALS SUCH AS BATS, AND THEY CREATE THIS TO LESSEN THE POPULATION
WORLDWIDE THERE TARGET IS 150,000,000 PEOPLE TO BE DEAD.
THANKS

• MADE BY
• DESEAR,KEAN ZENRIX P.
• GALANG,JUSTINE PAUL G.