There are differences in each country's approach on how it will transition into "living with the virus", the Department of Health (DOH) bared on Monday, Nov. 22.
For the case of the Philippines, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that one of the things that the government always takes into consideration is ensuring that the health system's capacity is prepared if restrictions are loosened.
"Alam po natin when we start living with the virus ito po ay mag-eentail na wala na tayong wide restrictions katulad ng mga Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) at (ECQ) dati that's why we have shifted the policy (We all know that when we start living with the virus this entails that we no longer have wide restrictions like MECQ and ECQ before which is why we shifted the policy)," she stated.
She added that when the government started off its shift in policy like the usage of the alert system, the main goal was to be able to actually live with the virus eventually. They also make it a point, according to Vergeire, to increase the capacity of every local government in employing these different strategies.
She stated that the reason the alert level system was introduced was to close or restrict an area or sector with a high alert level and then open it once it goes down. Vergeire also mentioned that the more people will get vaccinated against COVID-19, the government will also be more confident to employ new policies to live with the virus.
"Ito pong pagbabakuna natin pag naitaas na po natin ang coverage natin definitely we will have more safeguards we will have more confidence dito sa sinasabing living with the virus (If we improve our vaccination coverage, we will definitely have more safeguards and we will have more confidence in the so-called living with the virus)," Vergere said.
"So these are the things that we are doing in transition and in preparation that we can really live with the virus in the future," Vergeire said.