Isang infectious disease expert ang nagpahayag ng kanyang suporta sa desisyon ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas na magpataw ng travel restrictions sa ilang bansa dahil sa lumalaking banta ng potensyal na mas nakahahawang Omicron coronavirus variant.
“I think we have learned from our experience before, especially with the Delta variant. It’s a precautionary measure on our part—a third world country. It’s very difficult when an Omicron variant of concern can enter our country,” sabi ni Dr. Rontgene Solante, chief of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Unit ng San Lazaro Hospital sa isang panayam sa ABS-CBN nitong Miyerkules, Dis. 1.
“For me, it’s just appropriate that at this point we were able to do that,” dagdag niya.
Aniya pa, mahalaga na “proactive” ang bansa sa mga hakbang nito.
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“We need to be proactive. Being proactive—sometimes we are overactive also—but that is fine as long as there is no Omicron variant of concern here in the Philippines coming from another country,” sabi ni Solante.
Pansamantalang suspindido sa Pilipinas ang mga inbound flight mula sa South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, at Italysa gitna ng pangamba sa Omicron variant.
Sa kasalukuyan, sinabi ni Solante na bumaba na ang bilang ng COVID-19 patients na na-admit sa mga ospital.
“I think it is really low for me because in the hospitals, we’ve not been getting new cases and that is a good sign,”sabi ng eksperto.
Iniugnay ni Solante ang pagbaba ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa mataas na vaccination rate at pagsunod sa minimum public health protocols.
“The vaccine is very important. Second, I think people have really changed their lifestyle in terms of the health protocols,” sabi niya.
“Most of us are really doing it, being conscious about protecting ourselves and protecting our work because if you will be sick, you cannot work…So all of these things are more or less factors why cases are going down,” dagdag niya.
Analou de Vera
