The Covid-19 virus is heading towards the “endemic” phase in the Philippines amid the continuing decline in the number of cases, an infectious disease expert said on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

“Yung nakikita naman talaga natin dito sa Covid, mukhang nagiging endemic na siya in the sense na magcicirculate na yan parang sipon, hindi na talaga siya mawawala ng todo (What we are really seeing here with Covid, it seems that it is becoming endemic in the sense that it will circulate like a cold. It will not really disappear completely),” said Dr. Edsel Salvana, a member of the Department of Health (DOH) Technical Advisory Group during a televised briefing.

Recently, DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that Covid-19 cases in Luzon continue to decrease, while cases in Mindanao were plateauing. However, the DOH observed an uptick in the number of infections in Visayas.

This fluctuating trend in the number of cases is a sign of endemicity, said Salvana.

“Parang sa mga ganitong klaseng illnesses, meron talagang fluctuation sa (For these kinds of illnesses, there is really a fluctuation in the) number of cases. The other thing is, we are not testing as much with RT-PCR anymore and karamihan ang ginagamit nalang ay yung antigen, so hindi actually na re-record (most of what is used right now is the antigen, so it is not actually being recorded),” said Salvana.

“So, we are not absolutely sure kung ano talaga ang ibig sabihin ng numbers na ito compared doon sa time na RT-PCR lang yung ginagamit natin (what these numbers really mean compared to the time when we only used RT-PCR),” he added.

However, the healthcare utilization rate now has more weight than the number of cases, said Salvana.

“Bagama't ang pinakaimportante talaga diyan is titingnan talaga natin yung healthcare capacity. Dahil kung ano man yung number ng cases na umiikot diyan, as long as karamihan diyan ay mild, ay hindi naman siya magiging malaking burden sa health system na magsasarado ang mga ospital (Although, the most important thing really is we look at the healthcare capacity. Because regardless of the number of cases, as long as most of them are mild, it will not be a big burden on the health system where hospitals will close),” he said.

Despite this development, Salvana reminded the public to still remain vigilant. He noted the importance of vaccination and mask wearing.

“ very important na alam naman natin yung Covid is really becoming endemic and parang regular illnesses na rin siya, bagama't nakamamatay pa ito lalong-lalo na sa ating (that we know that Covid is really becoming endemic and is likely also becoming a regular illness, although it is still deadly, especially for our) vulnerable population,” he said.

“Very important na i-maintain ang ating pagbabakuna. Pag sinabi ng gobyerno na kailangan ng booster, magpa-booster po tayo (It is very important to maintain our vaccination. When the government says that a booster is needed, let's get a booster),” he added.

“Alalahanin natin na ang mask ay hindi lang para sa Covid, para sa mga respiratory illnesses po siya. As long as meron risk, kung gusto niyong mas makaligtas we can use it as an additional tool for public health prevention (Let's remember that the mask is not only for Covid, it is for respiratory illnesses. As long as there is risk, if you want to be safer, we ​​can use it as an additional tool for public health prevention),” he furthered.

‘Quite uncertain’

Meanwhile, the DOH said it is still quite uncertain regarding this matter because of the waning immunity among the population.

“We can say that, yes, endemicity will come soon. Pero sa ngayon (But for now), it is quite uncertain because of this immunity that we are talking about. We are not yet certain and cannot be confident to say kasi mababa ang immunity ngayon (due to low immunity) because of booster coverage, which is low; and the effect of these subvariants to our immunity in the population,” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“But we agree with Doc Edsel that mukang dadating na sa punto na yun (that it looks like it will come to that point). But right now, we can't say that .” she added.

As of Nov. 14, almost 73.7 million Filipinos have been fully-vaccinated. Of this figure, more than 20.8 million individuals have received their first booster dose and almost 3.5 million people have received their second booster shot.