Independent monitoring group OCTA Research on Saturday mentioned public advisories ought to nonetheless be issued even after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 now not represents a world well being emergency.
“We should still be giving advisories sa mga kababayan natin (to our countrymen),” OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David mentioned in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
The WHO issued the declaration on Friday, marking a serious step in the direction of the tip of the pandemic that has killed greater than 6.9 million individuals, disrupted the worldwide financial system and ravaged communities, Reuters reported.
“Sinasabi ng WHO, they make it clear na ‘yung global state of emergency ‘yung nagtapos. COVID is still here and nasa individual countries na ‘yung management ng pandemic… Hindi na pandemic siguro dahil walang state of emergency, pero ‘yung management ng disease…,” David mentioned.
(The WHO mentioned they’re making it clear that it’s the world state of emergency that ended. COVID continues to be right here and it’s as much as particular person nations to handle the pandemic. It’s perhaps not a pandemic anymore as a result of there is no such thing as a extra state of emergency, however the administration of illness [has to continue].)
The OCTA Research fellow added that the COVID scenario now shouldn’t be the identical because it was in 2020 or 2021.
“‘Yung situation ngayon sa COVID is not the same noong 2020… 2021… Iba na ang situation ngayon,” he mentioned.
However, it doesn’t imply that COVID-19 ought to now not be given consideration, David added.
“We have to wait for the official announcement ng WHO [kung endemic na ang COVID-19]… I think ganyan na rin more or less ‘yung messaging… na it’s not an emergency for what it was once… More or less, manageable na ‘yung disease,” he mentioned.
“Dapat patuloy pa rin ang mga paalala at abiso sa publiko kaugnay sa COVID-19 para makapaghanda kung sakaling may pagtaas ng mga kaso,” David added.
He additionally mentioned the variety of COVID-19 infections reported by the Department of Health could not signify the entire image on condition that some countrymen use antigen assessments and don’t report the outcomes.
“Mas kakaunti ang nate-test, mas kaunti ang nakikitang cases… Mas marami ang hindi nagpapa-test… ‘Yung mga antigen test result, hindi nare-report sa database,” David mentioned.
“We estimate na ‘yung true number of infections ay 10 to 20 times higher… Kung mayroon tayong 1,500 cases reported yesterday, baka 10 times higher, baka 15,000 na pala ‘yun,” he added.
But what is nice to notice is that there are fewer extreme and significant COVID-19 circumstances and fewer circumstances resulting in hospitalizations, David added.
“Walang danger na ma-overwhelm ang hospitals. Although tumaas slightly sa Metro Manila… Nothing to panic about,” he mentioned.
David mentioned authorities ought to proceed monitoring the variety of COVID-19 circumstances because the virus can nonetheless mutate and evolve into one thing worse anytime.
He additionally inspired the general public, significantly senior residents and people with comorbidities, to take additional warning to stop contracting COVID-19.
“Kahit wala na ang state of emergency, nandiyan pa rin ang virus,” he added. —KG, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
