The Department of Health (DOH) has defended its move to release the Covid-19 case bulletin weekly as this is one of the ways for the public to “learn to live with the virus.”
“This was a policy decision. This was a decision made by the government because we saw the benefit in revising and redirecting how people perceive itong ating (this) Covid-19. Kailangan na po nating mag shift ng ating (We need to shift our) mindset from previous that we were so focused on numbers. We need to focus on the consequences that we care about,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Friday, March 18.
Vergeire said that the government’s direction is to focus more on severe and critical cases and the utilization of health facilities.
“We all know that Covid-19 or the virus will never go away. It is here to stay. So, the presence will always be here ng ating (of this) Covid-19. We need to learn to live with the virus. By living with this virus, kailangan alam natin (we need to know) that anytime there will be mild and asymptomatic cases,” she said.
“Pero ang importante sa atin walang magkaroon ng severe cases, walang maospital, walang mamatay (But what is important to us is that there will be no severe cases, no one will be hospitalized, no one will die), that is why we are vaccinating. And that is what we would want to have as a mindset for all Filipinos,” she added.
The weekly release of the case bulletin does not mean that the threat of Covid-19 is now over, she said.
“Not to say na tapos na (that it is over), it is not. We don't want people to be complacent, that is why every day we remind people to get vaccinated and follow minimum public health standards,” she said.
Vergeire assured the public that the government is still monitoring the country’s Covid-19 situation.
“Government is closely monitoring the number of cases. Walang patid iyan. Araw-araw tinitingnan po namin (We are constantly monitoring). As soon as there would be an increase in the number of cases, we will immediately again call our local governments inform the public about this. For now, we shift to this kind of mindset,” she said.
“We are always accountable because we are mandated to protect the people and this direction, sa tingin namin, ay magbibigay ng benepisyo towards that goal of living with the virus,” she said.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana also agreed with Vergeire regarding this matter.
“The way that different countries is handling it, iba-iba talaga (is really different). For instance ang Sweden, hindi na sila nagtra-track at all (they are no longer tracking cases at all),” he said.
“Iba na kasi talaga ang Covid ngayon dahil sa bakuna (Covid is really different now because of the vaccine), we are starting to go towards a virus that is no longer the same in terms of deadliness and impact to society as it was two years ago,” he said.
“So this is a natural evolution, the same way the virus evolves. Ang ating response nagie-evolve dahil marami na po tayong tools, kasama diyan ang mga bakuna, gamot, at patuloy na paggamit ng mask (Our response is evolving also because we now have many tools such as vaccines, medicines, and the use of masks)---so that we can live with this virus,” he added.
Health advocate Dr. Tony Leachon recently said that the DOH should be held accountable for the possible increase in Covid-19 cases after the agency decided to release the case bulletin on a weekly basis.