DepEd Confirms COVID Cases In Schools; Numbers Still Being Verified

New COVID-19 cases have been reported among students, teachers and non-teaching personnel since the opening of the school year last August, the Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed Friday, Sept. 30.

DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said they could not release the exact numbers yet as they still need to verify the information with local government units and the Department of Health (DOH).

“We already received reports all over the country that there are learners, teachers and non-teaching staff who test positive. That is why we are closely monitoring the situation and making sure that our schools have what we call the infection containment plan that we asked them to prepare before the start of classes to prevent a surge,” he said in English and Filipino during a press briefing.

Poa said having positive cases among students and personnel was expected, noting that face-to-face classes are not different from in-person setups in other settings such as offices.

“What we want to avoid, that’s why we’re closely monitoring (the situation), is to have a surge in COVID cases,” he stressed.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte earlier approved the health and safety protocols to be implemented in schools during the conduct of face-to-face classes.

The policy requires strict monitoring for possible symptoms of COVID-19 before reporting for work or attending face-to-face classes and the mandatory wearing of face masks inside classrooms and other indoor areas.

DepEd earlier said students with COVID-19 symptoms are excused from in-person classes and shall shift to distance learning, provided they feel well enough to answer modules or participate in online classes.

NCR positivity rate rising

From 17.5 percent on Sept. 21, the seven-day positivity rate of the National Capital Region (NCR) has climbed to 18.9 percent on Sept. 28, its highest in recent months, according to the OCTA Research group.

The latest positivity rate is higher than the previous peak of 17.5 percent reported on Aug. 5. New COVID cases started to decrease last August, but again increased by mid-September.

OCTA fellow Guido David said the NCR remained at moderate risk even as the growth rate of new cases has slowed down over the past week.

Data from the DOH showed that the region reported an average of 1,069 new cases from Sept. 23 to 29, down from 1,127 the week before.

Reproduction number also slightly went down from 1.28 on Sept. 19 to 1.1 on Sept. 26 while average daily attack rate is currently at “moderate” 7.42 percent daily new infections per 100,000 people.

Health care utilization remained low at 35 percent, while intensive care unit occupancy was at 29 percent as of Sept. 28.

Easing the face mask policy

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said easing the face mask policy alone cannot cause a surge in COVID-19 cases, citing the experience of Cebu province.

“It’s a whole gamut of factors whenever a person gets sick of infectious disease. There is masking outdoors, mobility of people, opening of sectors, highly transmissible variants and immunization. All these will play a part,” Vergeire said.

She noted that that Cebu remaining under the low-risk classification despite implementing a voluntary face mask outdoor policy proves it isn’t wrong to make it optional.

“It is not unique for Cebu to have this kind of situation. Also, this gives us credence or this gives us the basis which I am saying repeatedly, that it is not only masking that should be considered a factor for us to get sick,” she added.

“It is not just Cebu having that decrease or plateau in cases. As we said, we are seeing (COVID-19) cases plateauing in Visayas and Mindanao while cases in the National Capital Region and Northern Luzon are increasing,” Vergeire noted.

100k jabbed

Over 100,000 individuals were jabbed during the first four days of the special week of vaccination under the government’s PinasLakas campaign, according to the DOH.

“So we have around 109,000 as accomplishment for the four days of this special vaccination days for the entire country. If we look at this first booster accomplishment, the uptake is really very slow,” Vergeire yesterday said at the “Bakunahang Bayan” event in Makati City.

This figure is only close to six percent or 5.7 percent of its 1.9 million COVID-19 target booster shots for this week.

As of Sept. 27, DOH data showed that some 19.3 million individuals have received their first booster doses. “That’s about four million plus as our target so that we can reach the 30 percent for the entire eligible population by October 8,” Vergeire said.

The DOH launched the special vaccination days in Visayas and Mindanao Sept. 26 while Luzon had its launch on Sept. 27 due to delays caused by Super Typhoon Karding. – With additional reports from Rhodina Villanueva