The OCTA Research Group asked the public to avoid eating out and attending social gatherings, also following the threat of the spread of the Delta variant in the country.
Prof. Ranjit Rye warned that there is a high probability of being infected with the virus when eating out and attending multiple gatherings, especially if not vaccinated against COVID-19.
He also advised the public that once the vaccine is available, they should immediately get it to protect them against the virus.
Rye stressed that vaccination is the long-term solution to the COVID-19 problem.
Dr. Guido David said that prevention is the key to preventing the disease now that the supply of vaccines is still limited.
“We are in a race against the Delta variant. 20% of our population are fully vaccinated, and we need 40% to 50% fully vaccinated for population protection,” said David.
“We will not meet that population protection until around September or October before herd immunity by the end of the year,” said Guido.
According to the Department of Health, the Philippines has recorded 119 cases of Delta variant, but only 12 of them are active.
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Public advised to avoid eating out, social gatherings
It has also vaccinated 17.5 million doses including 6.3 million already fully vaccinated.
The government targets to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos to achieve herd immunity against COVID.
Meanwhile, new COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) have climbed by 47 percent in the past week compared to the previous week.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said more than 900 new cases per day were recorded last week in Manila.
As such, Duque said it would have served as a wake-up call to local governments to intensify further case finding, testing, and contact tracing to more effectively combat the spread of the virus.
The secretary also agreed with the OCTA Research Group’s recommendation to implement circuit breaker lockdown in localities with high COVID-19 transmission due to the Delta variant.
Although the Department of Health had previously said that it was not correct to use the word “surge” to describe the rising cases of COVID-19 in NCR, the OCTA Research Group reiterated their observation.
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