The government may further de-escalate the current alert level imposed on Metro Manila should the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continue to decrease.
Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said in the Nov. 9 Laging Handa briefing that the National Capital Region (NCR) may be placed under Alert Level 1 if cases fall below 1,000 or 500 daily.
The DOH said it continues to monitor the region’s average daily attack rate (ADAR), two-week growth rate (2WGR), and healthcare utilization or the metrics for alert levels.
In line with this, Duque said the Philippines is preparing for the possible shifting to the endemic stage of COVID-19.
“It is wrong to think at this stage that COVID will disappear. It is best to assume it will stay with us and therefore we must learn to coexist with this. But we must be able to contain it so as not to overwhelm our healthcare system and to continue to protect the vulnerable population,” he said.
Under the endemic stage, the health systems capacity should not reach the critical level while protecting the vulnerable population.
According to Dr. Chito Avelino, former DOH Epidemiology Bureau director, it is considered endemic when it is here to stay and there is a possibility of getting infected from time to time regardless of vaccination status.
“Ang COVID is a new virus. Hindi natin alam kung ano ang kanyang kapasidad na magmu-mutate. Hangga’t may mga tao na hindi pa nababakunahan at maaari silang ma-infect ng COVID-19, yung mga taong ‘yun will be the vessel na maaaring magmutate si virus,” he said.
“At kapag nag–mutate si virus, maaaring mas malakas o maaari siyang mas mahina from the original,” he added.
Face shield
Duque recommended the voluntary use of face shields in areas under Alert Level 2, and make it mandatory under Alert Level 3.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said there were proposals to replace face shields with goggles for eye protection against droplets.
Malacaῆang said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has yet to issue a decision on the matter as it is up for discussion on their Thursday meeting. – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-rir
