MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health urged the public to refrain from using fireworks amid the holiday season, reporting that 10 Filipinos have already sustained injuries due to the pyrotechnic devices just one day after Christmas.
"As of 6 a.m. today, we have 10 cases. So six of these are ... those affected [in their] extremities and four are injuries. But there are no severe ones which require hospitalization, and no one has died due to firecracker injuries," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said partially in Filipino during a virtual briefing aired over state-run PTV on Saturday.
"Let's avoid using fireworks, we know that we face violations when we use it and that it ... can cause harm to our public. So I hope we follow the standards and policies of the government so that we can have a safe welcome in the coming year," she added in Filipino.
The injuries were reported over just five days, with the DOH beginning its monitoring on December 21. According to Vergeire, these figures are "lower compared to last year by 15 cases."
Last year, the DOH reported a 35% decrease in fireworks-related injuries, recording 164 injuries sustained from Dec. 21, 2019, to Jan. 1, 2020 — 87 cases lower than the 251 cases reported the year previous.
Most mayors in Metro Manila have agreed to ban the use and sale of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices amid the Yuletide season.
During the same virtual briefing, Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said only community fireworks displays would be allowed in the coming days, the permits for which must be issued by both the national police and local government units.
On Friday, Malaya said police would suspend the processing of special permits for community fireworks displays in order to curb mass gatherings over the holidays but would honor those already issued.
Vergeire also stressed the need to keep firecracker-related injuries at a minimum in order to avoid adding to the burden of facilities and hospitals which may soon have to contend with a sustained surge in coronavirus cases amid the holiday season.
"With regard to the COVID-19 patients, we are closely monitoring our facilities and we can see that our hospitals are still keeping up. Although, in some areas, we are seeing that they are approaching a high risk or danger zone. But we are now providing assistance and we are setting up the one hospital command in the different areas," she said in Filipino and English.
— Bella Perez-Rubio with reports from The STAR