Mass at Borongan Cathedral on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (Alren Beronio/ESTE News)
An adviser of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 has warned of a possible surge in cases in the coming weeks due to social gatherings during religious and elections-related activities.
In a “Laging Handa” briefing, NTF adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa said such events could be “superspreaders.”
“We have the campaign period ng politics/elections at mayroon din tayong religious events, iyong ating Ramadan at mass gatherings. So, all of these are tinatawag nating high risk events for superspreader,” Herbosa said.
“[Sa] Ramadan, sa gabi kumakain sila together. Iyong Holy Week naman [ay] nagbabakasyon, pumupunta tayo sa mga probinsiya at mami-meet natin iyong mga kamag-anak natin. And iyong political rallies naman talagang may mga mass gathering events and sometimes not properly worn ang ating mga mask,” he added.
The next two months could see an uptick in Covid-19 cases due to these activities, Herbosa said.
The same warning was earlier made by Dr. Rajendra Yadav, acting WHO representative to the Philippines.
The government aims to fully vaccinate 100 percent of the country’s target population by June.
It is studying the use of the country’s near-expiry Covid-19 vaccine doses in a house-to-house inoculation program to reach more Filipinos in far-flung areas. John Ezekiel J. Hirro