Over the past few months, a growing number of countries have made announcements that they are adjusting their pandemic response with the aim of learning to live with Covid-19. Unfortunately, some countries that celebrated their reopening are experiencing new surges of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths associated with the Delta variant.
In the United Kingdom, for example, a more transmissible version of the Delta variant was discovered. The new Delta subtype, called AY.4.2, has been under close scrutiny in recent days after evidence indicated that it spread more quickly than the dominant Delta variant. Health authorities in the UK are investigating a growing share of cases from this strain of the Delta variant.
For almost a month now, Covid infections in The Netherlands have been rising after most social distancing measures were scrapped in late September. The surge in new cases has forced many hospitals to cut back on regular care again, to make room for urgent Covid cases. A Reuters report said “the Dutch government on Tuesday decided to re-impose measures, including the wearing of face masks, aimed at slowing the latest spike in Covid-19 infections.” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the use of a “corona pass,” showing proof of a Covid-19 vaccination or recent negative coronavirus test, would be broadened as of November 6 to public places including museums, gyms and outdoor terraces.
From Bloomberg: “More provinces in China are fighting Covid-19 than at any time since the deadly pathogen first emerged in Wuhan in 2019. The highly infectious Delta variant is hurtling across the country despite the increasingly aggressive measures that local officials have enacted in a bid to thwart it. Local infections have been found in 19 of 31 provinces in the world’s second-largest economy.”
Shanghai Disneyland on Sunday tested more than 30,000 people, keeping visitors at the park until nearly midnight, after one infected person was found to have been there. China’s top health expert, Zhong Nanshan, who helped the government quell many outbreaks since the pandemic began, defended China’s Covid Zero approach. “While the restrictions necessary to control the virus are costly, opening up the country and allowing the pathogen to spread would exact an even steeper price,” he told Bloomberg.
These are not good developments to hear, especially in countries planning to lift Covid restrictions and reopen borders.
In the Philippines, as the daily caseload continues to drop, Metro Manila mayors decided to lift the general curfew in the metropolis starting Thursday, November 4, or 19 months after pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020.
Earlier, the OCTA Research Group issued a statement supporting calls by some business leaders for the alert level in the NCR to be lowered from 3 to 2 to allow more establishments to operate. OCTA Research Group member Guido David said the NCR is now under moderate risk in terms of Covid-19 cases after registering a daily attack rate at 5.72 percent. He said this was complemented by the low hospital utilization rate.
“Based on our reading of the data, it’s actually safe to reopen our business at this time,” David said, adding that the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the NCR with the implementation of a lower alert level is unlikely (See, Octa backs call to ease NCR to Alert Level 2, in the BusinessMirror, November 2, 2021).
Despite the promising Covid-19 data in the NCR, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases decided last week to extend the current Alert Level 3 until November 15, 2021. Businesses and tourism establishments in NCR, however, are hoping this will be downgraded soon.
Is the Philippines ready to reopen its borders?
President Duterte is in favor of a gradual reopening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ borders to trade and tourism as rising vaccination levels give Asean governments more confidence in easing restrictions. In a speech during the 16th East Asia Summit held via video conference on October 27, the President said: “It is also time that we open our borders safely to reinvigorate our trade and tourism sectors.”
The key word there is “safely,” and the best way to safely reopen our economy is to have at least 70 percent of the population inoculated. Even then, health protocols must still be strictly followed as we gradually increase the passenger capacity of public transportation in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Our reopening success lies in our citizens’ sense of civic duty to help control infections.