ManilaTimes-Feb 23
The Department of Health (DoH) on Tuesday said the Philippines is already “over the challenge of Omicron,” but it does not mean there are indications that the coronavirus pandemic will be over soon nor should the dreaded illness be considered endemic. DoH Undersecretary and spokesman Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire reiterated that although the country’s daily Covid-19 tally continues to decline, there must not be room for complacency as the probability of a new variant emerging is still “very high” and “will always cross borders,” as the virus can still mutate and there is no telling whether new mutations, if ever, will be less or severely more transmissible or deadly. And in preparation for the transition to the “new normal,” Vergeire said, the DoH, as lead agency in the government’s pandemic task force, is in the thick of crafting the National Action Plan (NAP) No. 5. The NAP will include the government’s ten-point policy that aims to “build the confidence of individuals by reporting pandemic-related metrics; protect individuals through vaccination and expanding the health system capacity; reduce risk due to policy uncertainty through predictable policies on mobility, resuming in-person classes and risk-based travel restrictions; facilitate the shift to the new normal through digital transformation; and build resilience through the pandemic flexibility bill that will hasten government response, and a medium-term preparation for pandemic resilience”. Read more at:
https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/02/23/news/national/omicron-crisis-over-doh/1833938
