‘We cannot go to heightened alert levels anymore as our economy will suffer. We cannot raise alert levels, but we can raise immunity levels.’
THE elections have provided an excuse for many Filipinos to momentarily forget the pain and hardship of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic but now that the polls are over, it is time to brace for whatever downside the large and jam-packed political rallies would bring.
There is no early indication that there will be an upsurge in the infection rate of COVID-19 despite the presence of new variants in the country such as the Omicron BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1. The Department of Health has identified the presence of these variants (only 14 cases) in Metro Manila and Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, and timely government intervention successfully prevented more infections.
This happened because a huge part of the population has already been vaccinated against COVID-19, and more Filipinos are receiving their booster shots. Also, one of the carriers of Omicron BA.2.12 is a Finnish tourist who visited Baguio City and Quezon City. She has been identified, isolated, treated and sent home to Switzerland without further infecting others.
Omicron, however, is a tough nut to crack. The virus has mutated again, dishing out the more infectious BA.4 and BA.5 variants, prompting the authorities to renew the call for renewed vigilance against the pandemic.
Government and private sector experts are meeting today, Monday, with leaders of the business community to discuss preparations in the fight against the new Omicron variants. Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said it is incumbent upon the private sector to assist the incoming government at this time. He stressed that COVID-19 is still very much around and we have to stay focused more than ever so we can keep the economy open.
The incoming Marcos administration will have to grapple with international and national problems such as poverty, crime, insurgency, inflation, jobs, food and energy security, etc. The list is almost endless, and we would not want to exacerbate the problems by adding another COVID-19 resurgence to the equation.
As Concepcion pointed out, the preventive measures we see for now are vaccination and boosters. We cannot go to heightened alert levels anymore as our economy will suffer. We cannot raise alert levels, but we can raise immunity levels.
Both the outgoing Duterte administration and the incoming one should seriously work to contain the COVID-19 situation and put it under control.
