MANILA — More Filipinos have become “lax” in following minimum health standards to fight COVID-19, an official from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday, blaming it as the reason behind the spike in newly-reported cases.

The country has been logging more than 2,400 fresh cases since March 5, data showed, with the health department reporting over 3,000 new infections at its peak for 4 straight days until March 8.

DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III, who was infected with the coronavirus last year, blamed this development to Filipinos who violate health protocols, and batted for a stricter observance of such measures.

• DILG Usec Densing tests positive for COVID-19

But the official, facing the House Committee on Transportation, did not reveal any new rules for stemming the virus’ spread.

“The reason why there’s an upsurge in identified local government units (LGU) is because people have started to become lax in the practice of minimum health standards. I saw in Pasay, BGC (Bonifacio Global City), people are talking, laughing without face masks and face shields, and you see saliva coming out of their mouths,” Densing told lawmakers.

“This is really an issue that we are addressing right now, for people to practice minimum health standards when they go out of their homes,” he added.

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Nueva Ecija 2nd District Rep. Micaela Violago asked the official whether the DILG would consider implementing new health standards considering the uptick in new COVID-19 infections.

“Kasi ngayon, nag-surge na naman ng dami ng pasyente ng COVID. Na-consider ba sa plano ito? Kasi ngayon, sigurado marami na namang probinsya na magsasara ulit kasi sa pagdami [ng kaso]” said Violago.

(We are now seeing a surge in the number of COVID-19 patients. Have you considered this in your plans? For sure, many provinces will close yet again due to the rising COVID-19 cases.)

Densing said the DILG already issued a memorandum directing LGUs to pass ordinances penalizing residents who violate minimum health protocols.

“We’ve already issued a memo reiterating our previous memorandum in July of 2020… It can be in the form of imprisonment, fines or penalties, or maybe community work. And this was mentioned by our health officials during our consultation with the mayors of the National Capital Region, that regardless of the variant, if people are practicing minimum health standards, there is 95 percent less chance or risk of transmission,” he said.

In a public briefing on Monday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reiterated that the spike in new cases cannot be attributed solely to the local presence of COVID-19 variants, saying that the public’s non-compliance with health protocols remained as its “underlying cause.”

“As long as our public would not be able to comply with the minimum health protocols that are there, the interventions, and then, andiyan na talaga ‘yung posibilidad na dadami nang darami ang kaso. And ngayon dumating yung variants, it has aggravated yung increase sa cases,” said Vergeire.

(With that, there is a possibility that new cases will continue to rise. Now we also have the variants, and it aggravated the increase in new cases.)

A Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2021 survey by the OCTA Research, an independent group of researchers providing updates on the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, showed that a majority or over 90 percent of Filipinos complied with wearing face masks and cleaning their hands.

• Many Filipinos fail to abide by physical distancing protocols: OCTA survey

Some 67 percent of the respondents interviewed also said they were able to practice physical distancing.

EASING TRAVEL PROTOCOLS

The uptick in fresh COVID-19 infections also came in the wake of the government easing travel protocol across provinces and cities in late February. The new rules include the removal of mandatory COVID-19 testing and quarantine for local travelers except if they exhibit virus symptoms.

• READ: No mandatory testing, quarantine: IATF eases cross-border travel, unifies protocols

Densing defended this move and said the unified travel protocols are “backed up by science.” He also noted that if only the travelers strictly observe minimum health measures, the spread would at least be prevented.

“When we made the standard protocols for travel, the key agency there was our Department of Health and our resident epidemiologist… So [if] the traveler practices minimum health standards—and this I emphasize with our local officials—there’s 95 percent chance of less transmissibility,” he said.

Earlier in the hearing, the official told lawmakers that close to 80 to 90 percent of LGUs have complied with 3 mandates following the unified travel protocols:

• Travelers don’t need travel authority from the Philippine National Police
• Medical certificate from the LGU of origin is no longer required
• there is no required quarantine upon arrival of travelers except for those who have symptoms

He also expects the rollout of an application that can be used by travelers within the next 2 weeks to advise them on travels.

- With a report from Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News