10 Things Public Health Experts Should Do Instead of Extending Modified Community Quarantine

Public health experts in the Philippines are suggesting that the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) should be extended to one month a week after the government decided to revert back to MECQ from the less stringent General Community Quarantine (GCQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the Calabarzon Region in response to the appeal by health care workers (HCWs) for a breather to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the area. The country is among those who adopted the longest lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the pandemic. But lockdowns have not succeeded in achieving the flattening of the curve. The lockdowns have been hard on the economy. In the second quarter of 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) contracted to 16.5% from 0.7% in the first quarter or 9% contraction in the first half of 2020. The level of contraction surprised the economic managers. This was the first time since 1991 that the economy ventured into the negative territory. It is clear to economists that the country cannot adopt the lockdowns indefinitely. The country cannot afford the impact of sustained economic declines. Instead of lockdowns our public health professionals should do the following things :

1. Think of ways to slow down the spread of COVID-19 beyond such minimum protocols as wearing of facemask, observing physical distancing, and washing of hands.

2. Think of ways to help people avoid crowded places, confined spaces, and close contact settings in their workplaces, transportation systems, and supermarkets.

3. Explore therapeutic approaches to helping people get cured at the early onset of symptoms of Covid-19 by giving people access to Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin with zinc through prescription.

4. Assert our national sovereignty against the WHO by not acting like stooges and examine every piece of advice they make.

5. Identify all physicians, hospitals, DOH officials, and Philhealth officials who are part of the syndicate that stole billions of pesos by exploiting the panic that Covid-19 created.

6. Analyze carefully the statistics on Covid-19 and create the most scientifically humane approach to bringing about herd immunity.

7. Educate the people on sanitation and nutritional approaches to fighting diseases, including Covid-19.

8. Allow the testing of emerging therapeutic approaches to Covid-19 using the most relevant scientific methods.

9. Revise data gathering and reporting of Covid-19 cases with the aim of creating a dynamic mapping of the movement of the spread of COVID-19.

10. Create a structured and unified public messaging system that will help people get accurate and intelligent information so that they can exercise their natural aversion to risks and so help the public modify their behavior.

Photo Credit to Manila Bulletin