The Department of Health on Thursday said it is seeking a stronger primary health care to prepare the country for the next pandemic.

“Four years after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases first recommended to former President Rodrigo Duterte to impose a nationwide ‘enhanced community quarantine’ to save the lives and protect from Covid-19, the DoH continues to be vigilant for any new infectious disease threats along with the many other health conditions affecting Filipinos,” said the Health department.

To recall, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July 2023 lifted the nationwide state of public health emergency due to Covid-19, ending over three years of various degrees of pandemic restrictions.

The DoH said it has instituted early on a scientific “PDITR” response framework which stands for prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and reintegrate.

“Prevention measures started with minimum public health standards. Detection was rapidly scaled up; molecular laboratories capable of PCR tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus became available nationwide,” said the DoH.

“This has kept the number of new cases in check, and the technology is being repurposed to rapidly detect other pressing diseases like Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS,” it added.

The DoH also reported 251 new Covid-19 cases from 27 February to 4 March, which resulted to an average of 36 cases reported per day, which is 27 percent lower compared to the average cases recorded last 20 to 26 February.

Meanwhile, out of the 1,185 dedicated Covid-19 intensive care unit beds available as of 14 March, only 115 (10 percent) were occupied, while only 1,119 (11 percent) of the 10,097 dedicated Covid-19 non-ICU beds were in use.