THE number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases reported daily over the past seven days has dropped slightly, the May 30 to June 5 case bulletin of the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday showed.
The DOH said the weekly update showed an average of 185 daily average cases for the period of May 30 to June 5, which is 1.4 percent lower than the cases reported from May 23 to 29.
In total, the last seven days recorded a total of 1,295 COVID-19 cases, of which 16 were severe and critical cases and one fatality.
The DOH also reported that there are currently 599 severe and critical cases in the country as of June 5. Of the number, 386 are occupying ICU beds which account for 14.7 percent of the 2,632 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 4,031 patients that are occupying COVID-19 beds, which is 18.1 percent of the 22,245 total beds allocated nationwide.
Dr. Edsel Salvaña from the DOH – Technical Advisory Group said the entry of different Omicron variants and subvariants in the country has not derailed the course of the Philippines to reach the endemic state for COVID-19.
“These BA (subvariants) are mostly mild, especially for the vaccinated ones. In some days, there is even no death. This tells us that we are really headed towards endemicity,” said Salvaña in a televised public briefing yesterday.
“COVID has surprised us many times, so we are cautious. But we are cautiously optimistic that we are really headed towards endemicity,” he added.
The infectious disease expert issued the statement after the DOH recently detected cases of the Omicron subvariants of BA.4, BA.2.12.1, and BA.5 in the country.
Salvaña attributed the ability of the Philippines to prevent any possible surge in COVID-19 cases to the combination of high COVID-19 vaccination rate and high number of previous cases.
“It’s really because there is immunity even with primary series and boosters. Also, many had COVID-19, who developed the so-called hybrid immunity. The country is more resilient when there is a combination of high vaccination rate and high hybrid immunity,” said Salvaña.
As of June 5, the DOH has recorded over 3.69 million individuals that were hit by COVID-19.
On the other hand, there are currently 71 million fully vaccinated individuals, with 14.2 million getting their booster shots.
EMERGENCY STATUS
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said government should share the responsibility with the private sector and the public the “operational considerations,” including the emergency use authorization of vaccines and drugs, and the end to access to calamity funds once the state of public health emergency is lifted.
This, he also said, includes passing on the vaccination costs to those who can afford it.
“We can see that the government cannot afford to buy vaccines and drugs for the entire country anymore,” he said, adding: “In any case, it is apparent that the situation in the country is improving and that what is needed is for plans on how to move away from the pandemic mindset.
“Moving forward, handling the pandemic should now be a shared responsibility between the government, the private sector, and all Filipino citizens,” he said following the Laging Handa public briefing.
The current system, he said, cannot go on indefinitely as this presents the possibility that alert levels can be raised and would again hinder mobility and affect the economy. “Alert levels were very useful when COVID was active and present,” he said, but current subvariants of Omicron are highly transmissible but mild, especially for those who are vaccinated, and hospitalizations remain low despite the slowing vaccination rates.
Concepcion pointed out that even the government has admitted that vaccinations have slowed down. “Since an increasing number of people do not want to take the vaccine then why should the government spend more on them?” he asked.
Concepcion proposed that part of the cost of buying vaccines in the future be shouldered by the private sector and individuals who can afford the vaccines. “This is what happens with flu vaccines, for example, and it has been shown that people are willing to pay for them,” he said.
Concepcion further said that he sees no reason pharmaceutical companies should be denied a Certificate of Product Registration for vaccines and drugs that have been in use during the pandemic.
“For us to move away from Emergency Use Authorizations to Certificate of Product Registration (CPR), we have to lift the public health emergency status. With CPR, the vaccine companies can sell directly to consumers and remove the burden from the government,” he said.
