OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David, on Saturday, March 12, said that it will be best if the de-escalation of the Philippines under an Alert Level 0 status will only take place after the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alert Level 0, according to David, is the old or pre-pandemic normal.
“Technically, kapag sinabi ng WHO na tapos na ang pandemic ay maaari na tayong bumaba sa Alert Level 0. Kapag dineclare nila na tapos na ang pandemic, endemic na ‘yun so we can go back to the old normal. Pero until then, sana ay maging maingat pa rin tayo at may protocols pa rin tayong natitira (Technically, when WHO says that the pandemic is over, we can go to Alert Level 0. When they declare that the pandemic is over, it means that it has become endemic so we can go back to the old normal. But until then, hopefully we will still be careful and we still have protocols left),” said David in an interview over DZBB.
David pointed out that the implementation of Alert Level 0 status will bring “less benefit” to the country, adding that the risk of “completely relaxing” the health protocols may cause an unprecedented spike in infections.
He likewise said that under this alert level, it will be hard for the national government to convince the public to get inoculated.
“Kapag nasa Alert Level 0 na tayo wala nang magpapabakuna. Ngayon nga lang nahihirapan na tayo. Ang messaging kasi nito ay tapos na ang pandemic. Tapos na ba talaga? Baka may variant pang sumulpot at hindi natin masasabi ‘yan sa ngayon (When we deescalate to Alert Level 0, the public will no longer get themselves vaccinated. Right now we are already having a hard time. The message that it brings is that the pandemic is over. Is it really over? Maybe another variant will emerge and we cannot be certain of that right now),” he added.
Meanwhile, to minimize the spread of Covid-19 infections, David urged the public to remain adhering to the minimum public health standards such as the use of face masks despite the decreasing number of cases in the country.