The Philippines is headed to lifting the public health emergency imposed to counter the transmission of Covid-19.
Covid-19 vaccination (Ali Vicoy/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said this in a Palace briefing on Tuesday, July 4, as he bared that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is inclined in lifting the public health emergency.
"Yes, actually this was one of his first instructions to me to really get out of the Covid pandemic," Herbosa said, referring to the President's directive upon his appointment as Health chief.
"We are headed there. We are on the path. As I said, I told the President, thank you for bringing us out of the pandemic," he added.
According to Herbosa, prior to his assumption as the Department of Health Secretary, the interagency task force (IATF)has recommended the lifting of the public health emergency.
"So, if that is not yet signed, I will follow it up with a reiteration. Because I think at that time, they were still hesitant because there was still the problem of how we get the bivalent if we lift it. But now, I think that obstacle is gone," the Health chief explained.
"But I think the Office of the President have to study some other things that were the consequences of the lifting officially – one was the vaccine issue because mawawala iyong EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) to get the bivalents," he added.
The Health official said Marcos told him "to recover from Covid and be able to get back the economy as we’ve lost a lot in the economy from the restrictions."
The World Health Organization has removed Covid-19 from the list of public health emergency of international concern, and it is now considered by the WHO "as just one of the diseases"
"I think what happens now is that the risk is passed on to individuals. So for your information, the WHO already removed COVID-19 from the list of public health emergency of international concern, so it’s considered by WHO as just one of the diseases. And even for us, doctors, we now also consider it as just one of the respiratory illnesses. There is still the risk of death for vulnerable people which is the elderly and those with medical conditions, immunocompromised. But the number of deaths has already declined," he stressed.
Herbosa said "we still have to protect ourselves", especially if you are vulnerable and advise them to get vaccinated to be "specially protected."