Focus back on Covid-19 pandemic
Editorial

Focus back on Covid-19 pandemic

May 23, 2022, 5:39 AM
OpinYon Editorial

OpinYon Editorial

Writer

Now that the frenzy of the May 9 national and local elections is over, the government is turning its focus back on the problem of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to the fact that the government’s intensified Covid-19 vaccination drive has been set back by the elections – not to mention that health protocols such as wearing of face masks and physical distancing were swept aside during the campaign period – health experts are now worried about a possible surge of Covid-19 cases in the next few weeks.

Here in Laguna province, the news so far has been encouraging: two weeks after the elections, Covid-19 cases are still at double-digit levels as of May 19.

But that doesn’t mean that the situation will stay like this.

In fact, the recent disclosure of the Department of Health of a local transmission of the Omicron BA.2.12.1 Covid-19 variant in the Philippines have sent health authorities in jitters.

And with good reason: according to preliminary studies in other countries, this new variant could be 25 percent more contagious than previous strains of the coronavirus.

The good news is that this particular strain "might" not cause more severe disease, as there has not been a rise in hospitalizations in other countries, alongside the increasing cases of what has been termed the "stealth Omicron" variant.

But this should not make all of us lackadaisical about ensuring that health protocols remain strictly implemented, and that local government units must immediately prepare for yet another surge in hospitalizations due to this new variant.

In the two years of the pandemic, we should have learned the lessons that the previous surges have taught us and take steps to mitigate – if not entirely prevent – the feared post-election surge of Covid-19 cases.


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