Herbosa to recommend lifting of COVID-19 public health emergency
MANILA, Philippines – Department of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said on Monday, June 26, that he would recommend lifting the COVID-19 public health emergency.
“Actually, there is no longer an emergency,” Herbosa said in a chance interview with reporters on Monday afternoon. “I think I would actually ask the lifting of the public health emergency in the country.
The Philippines has been under a state of public health emergency since March 2020, ordered by former president Rodrigo Duterte, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The World Health Organization declared an end to the global health emergency last May 5.
Under the state of public health emergency, the DOH was able to mobilize resource and ease processes for procurement of logistics and supplies, and “intensify reporting and quarantine measures.”
Although Herbosa said that he would be for lifting the health emergency, the current COVID-19 alert system should remain in place for guidance on how to deal with other outbreaks.
According to the government’s COVID-19 dashboard, at least 66,482 have died in the Philippines due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
More recently, the Philippines launched its bivalent booster vaccination program, which targets the original COVID-19 strain and the more transmissible Omicron variant.
The Philippines received more than 390,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from the Lithuanian government, Herbosa said, adding that more doses are expected to arrive.
Healthcare workers and senior citizens are prioritized for this booster while supplies are still limited.
The Philippines reported daily average cases of 492 between June 12 and June 18. COVID-19 bed utilization remains low at 17.7% for non-ICU beds and 13% for that same period.
Meanwhile, 325 severe and critical admissions were reported for that week, or 10.7% of total COVID-19 admissions.
The country has already reached its vaccination target coverage of the eligible population at 100.4% – or 78.4 million – fully vaccinated individuals as of March 2023. Around 23.81 million meanwhile have received a booster dose.
Herbosa was a COVID-19 task force adviser during the Duterte administration. – Rappler.com