An infectious disease expert said it is not yet the right time to remove the alert level system being implemented in the country amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
COVID-19 vaccination should first be ramped up in the provinces, said Dr. Edsel Salvana,a member of the Department of Health (DOH) Technical Advisory Group, in a public briefing on Thursday, Feb. 3.
“Palagay ko hindi muna timely na tanggalin natin yung alert level system dahil kailangan muna natin makita yung magiging patuloy tuloy na pagbaba ng kaso at syempre alam natin na may mga probinsya pa rin na mababa ang level ng kanilang pagbabakuna (I don't think it's timely for us to remove the alert level system because we need first to see the continuous decrease in cases, and of course, we know that there are still provinces with low levels in terms of vaccination),” he said.
On Monday, Jan. 31, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion believes that the country is ready to remove the alert level system by March or April.
The alert level system can help in managing the number of cases in the event that the number of COVID-19 cases increases again, said Salvana.
“Meron naman tayong Alert Level 1 that is actually very permissive naman, bumabalik na sa 100 percent yung capacities pero kinakailangan pa rin yung minimum public health standards (We have Alert Level 1 that is actually very permissive, wherein the capacities are returning to almost 100 percent but adherence to the minimum public health standards are still required),” he said.
“Kung biglang tumaas ang mga kaso then meron tayong calibrated response para hindi tuloy tuloy yung paglaganap at maprerpressure yung ating mga ospital (If the cases suddenly increase, then we have a calibrated response so that the virus spread does not continue and our hospitals will not be under pressure),” he added.
The easing of restrictions should be gradual, said Salvana.
“Sinabi na ng WHO malayo pa yung end ng pandemic. Meron pa rin tayong mga inaasahan na baka may mga lumabas pa na bagong variants at kinakailangan po talaga na manatili na gumamit pa rin ng masks ang mga tao habang patuloy tayo na nagbabakuna (The WHO has already said that the end of the pandemic is still far. New variants may still come out and it is really necessary for people to still use masks while we continue to vaccinate),” he said.
“Kaming mga infectious disease experts, technical advisory group we are very optimistic na dahil sa mataas na antas ng pagbabakuna, itong COVID ay hindi na masyadong nagiging deadly at dahan dahan na talaga tayong pwedeng umahon. Bagama’t sa ngayon, kinakailangan dahan dahan (We, infectious disease experts, technical advisory group--- we are very optimistic that due to the high level of vaccination, the COVID-19 is no longer that deadly and we can get back to some semblance of normalcy. Although for now, it is necessary to do it gradually),” he added.