Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5) — The country will likely begin the transition from a state of pandemic to an endemic approach to COVID-19 this month of February, or once new COVID-19 cases return to pre-Omicron levels, presidential adviser for COVID-19 response Vince Dizon said on Wednesday.
The official made the assessment at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum. He said that the National Task Force Against COVID-19 is now crafting the pandemic exit plan, adding that the government is “100 percent” supporting the recommendation to remove the alert level system as the vaccination rate continues to go up.
“I think we will begin with the transition this February. We just need to bring down the cases to the levels that we had in late last year, below 1,000 cases per day, then we can begin the process of transitioning from a pandemic framework to a more endemic framework,” he explained.
Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion also suggested only removing alert levels in areas with high vaccination rate.
The OCTA Research earlier said that the “worst is over” in most parts of the country as regions have either reached the recent surge’s peak or at the least battling the ongoing one caused by the spread of the more transmissible but less severe Omicron coronavirus variant.
The daily COVID-19 case tally was under 10,000 for the first time on Tuesday since coronavirus infections started spiking at the start of the year.
Dizon added that the government’s recent decision to ease restrictions and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated inbound international travelers and the supposed opening of the Philippines to tourists is proof that the administration is already making decisions that support the shift to an endemic framework.
It is generally viewed that once the transition effectively pushes through, COVID-19 cases could be approached in the same way as other endemic diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, and cholera.
