No doubt waves of jubilation and sighs of relief greeted the recent announcement from the World Health Organization saying Covid-19 was no longer a global health emergency.
At a meeting on the pandemic held last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuss told a press conference that the pandemic had been observed to be on a downward trend.
“This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we know it before Covid-19,” said Tedros. “Our emergency committee recommended to me to end the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice.”
Despite the welcome announcement, the WHO official noted that the virus has not stopped spreading, although with a lower level of concern, and therefore, continues to be a global health threat.
People should not take the recent WHO pronouncement as a signal to let one’s guard down and return to their usual pre-pandemic lifestyles. It has been observed that even before the seemingly welcome pronouncement, many have long discarded their masks, joined big crowds or assemblies, and have been quite careless in paying attention to hygienic practices.
Saying that the virus will continue to transmit, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said that this is seen in terms of the virus’s evolution every day “in our communities, age vulnerabilities, protection vulnerabilities, and many other things.”
The Department of Health, for its part, said the public should not be confident since the threat remains.
“The WHO did not say the pandemic is over, “said DoH Officer-in-Charge Ma. Rosario Vergeire. As early as January of this year, the DoH official already said that if the state of a public health emergency is lifted, the country “will remain cautious and vigilant” and will still be imposing the same restrictions to prevent the spread of the dreaded virus.
Although health authorities have not yet seen any reason to ring the alarm bells, a rise in Covid-19 cases has been reported lately.
A DoH bulletin issued last week said new Covid-19 cases in the Philippines rose 112 percent in the first week of May. There were 9,465 additional infections, 50 severe and critical. An average of 1,352 cases a day were recorded in the past week.
No need to panic, though, as the situation today has been manageable because of recent advances in technology and the availability of vaccines and bed space in hospitals, unlike the first months of the pandemic. The DoH attributed this state of affairs to “our effective and collaborative responses to recover and re-open our economy fully.”
So why the increase in the number of cases? Many cite the recent incidences of long weekends that translate to more occasions involving reunions or meetings with families and friends, the opening up of more public spaces like malls, transport stations, cinemas and concert and fun event venues that are virtual crowd-drawers.
The disease is not going away anytime soon and is here to stay, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhave, head of the WHO’s program on emerging diseases. “We just need to make sure we are tracking the virus because it will continue to evolve.”
And we must all do our part to ensure that it does not lead to more hospital confinements and, worse, deaths. Since it was declared a pandemic in early 2020, there have been more than 765 million confirmed cases and 7 million deaths worldwide. “Covid-19 continues to leave deep scars,” warns Tedros. “Those scars must serve as permanent reminders of the potential for new viruses to emerge with devastating consequences.”
Despite being vaccinated, I got infected with COVID-19 early on during my stint as commissioner of the Bureau of Customs last year. The good thing was I quickly recovered and returned to work after my self-imposed quarantine ended.
Recently, there have been reports of outbreaks in areas where people gather, particularly in crowded indoor settings where people talk loudly or breathe heavily, like gyms and music or choir practices.
Be involved. Wear your mask again if you have dropped the habit. As health experts suggest, avoid the 3Cs: closed spaces, crowded locations, and close contact with people, especially in places with inadequate ventilation. Better, meet your friends outside. Isolate yourself when sick and follow your doctor’s prescriptions. Get vaccine/booster shots when necessary. The life you save may be your own.