BETTER DAYS
Senator Sonny Angara
Noted pandemic monitor OCTA Research Group recently projected an overall decline in Covid-19 cases in the Philippines throughout the holidays, even with the easing of restrictions. This aligned with the research group’s statements earlier in September that Christmas this year was looking to be better than last year’s.
In a recent tweet, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David highlighted that the positivity rate in Metro Manila has decreased from 14.4 percent as of Dec. 10 to 13.9 percent in the week after. He quickly noted however that there were still increases measured in several areas, and that the positivity rate of the country in general was still way above the five-percent benchmark set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr. David’s tweets came roughly a week after a press briefing with DOH-OIC Maria Rosario Vergeire where she said that there was no need to panic. She explained that while increases in Covid-19 cases are to be expected, few have been severe and critical, and no parallel rise in hospital admissions has been observed.
These statements provide a measure of comfort, and underscore that we are in the final chapters of the pandemic, that our lives are finally returning to some degree of normalcy, and that indeed the holidays will be better than last year’s. They reaffirm the soundness of the government’s decision to ease restrictions, and open up the country — a decision that many Filipinos have welcomed, especially after two Christmases of being in lockdown.
If the vehicular and foot traffic on the roads and shopping malls of our major cities serve as any indication, the holidays are back to their more frenzied spirit. One can argue that this spirit is riding on the momentum generated when the release of the country’s pent-up energy pushed economic growth in the third quarter of this year to 7.6 percent, which was bested only by Vietnam’s performance among Southeast Asian countries. Not only are many Filipino families splurging for the holidays today, they are also engaging in “revenge travel” to countries like Japan, where Filipino visitors skyrocketed from 7,000 in August this year, to 14,000 by November.
There really is much to be optimistic about with the coming of the seasons. And yet there is still a need for some level of precaution. During a press conference earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while the world is much to closer to being able to say that the emergency phase of the pandemic is over, we’re not quite there yet. He underscored that “gaps in surveillance, testing, sequencing, and vaccination are continuing to create the perfect conditions for a new variant of concern to emerge that could cause significant mortality.
Consider that while up to 73.7 million Filipinos have already received their complete vaccine doses as of Dec. 18 this year, only a little more than 21 million have received their booster doses. Note also that apart from a handful of countries, the Philippines remains among the majority who have yet to allow Covid-19 vaccinations for children under five years old.
This is why despite the reassuring pronouncements from government officials and experts about the pandemic, the underlying call to the public is to remain vigilant and continue practicing minimum health and safety guidelines, especially around senior citizens, people with comorbidities, and unvaccinated children.
Such a call should not be seen as an overt act to dampen the holiday spirit. It’s more about ensuring that the sacrifices we have all had to endure in the past two years would not be in vain. The holidays after all also remind us about the importance of our communities — about how Christmas is best celebrated in solidarity with each other.
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(Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 18 years — nine years as Representative of the lone district of Aurora, and nine as Senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.)