Worst case scenario

By Leonardo Micua

 

THIS new year, the world is again literally on edge because of the threat of the another COVID-19 variant that had emerged suddenly in some countries. Seen by experts as 55 percent more contagious than the original strain, the new strain though they appear to be less deadly than the first, could set off another excruciating lockdown for the Filipinos if caution is not taken seriously.

Reports said this new variant, first detected in the United Kingdom, where it is now rampaging almost out of control, has forced the Philippines to impose a ban on travelers from that country and those transiting within, and travelers from 20 other countries where the new strain is slowly spreading.

But this is not all that we should fret about. There are two other new strains of the coronavirus that were reported to have emerged based on deeper clinical studies, one in  South Africa and the other in Nigeria, both of which are as contagious as the one that was detected in the UK.

The DOH assured President Duterte that as of now, there is nothing to worry about as no new COVID-19 variant has so far entered the country. But just the same and as a precautionary measure to check the entry of a more contagious type of the coronavirus, we are not letting our guards down. Indeed, no traveler from countries already infected by these strains should be allowed to enter until the spread of that new variant is contained.

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It’s too bad that this new coronavirus variant emerged while the world is already on the cusp of eradicating the pandemic through mass inoculation of people of all races with the developed vaccines from advanced countries like the United States, UK, China, Russia and India. 

As a matter of fact, vaccination is ongoing among people in countries that first availed of the vaccines manufactured in the U.S., UK and China. If you think that the Philippines was rather slow in procuring vaccines for its people, you’re probably wrong. 

The Food and Drug Administration or FDA, chief regulator of all drug entering the country, is putting all vaccines under minute scrutiny to make sure that these will be safe for all of us once injected into our bodies. We don’t see any wrong with that.

 But it is just unfortunate that before the FDA could give its imprimatur to vaccines that meet its own strict standard that will go through the normal route, the Sinopharm vaccine from China is already here and as President Duterte himself announced, it was used to mass vaccinate some soldiers as well as a few cabinet members. 

 How Sinopharm vaccine managed to get through without passing the normal course amazes us no end. But this matter I think is better left for investigators to ascertain.

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If the new COVID-19 strain manages to enter the country, the worst scenario that could happen to us is to see hundreds of cases that could not be accommodated in all hospitals and existing isolation facilities of LGUs. Surely, such a situation will not only delay our transition to the new normal but further stymie our chances at economic recovery.

Anticipating a worst-case scenario, President Rodrigo Duterte took no time in cancelling the well-laid out plan for a dry run of face-to-face classes scheduled this January by the Department of Education.

DepEd earlier expressed hope that should its dry run be successful in some pilot areas, face-to face classes will soon be back nationwide. Incidentally, the cancellation of the face-to-face dry run clearly demolished the very assertion of Education Secretary Leonor Briones that the schools are safer havens for the learners than their own homes.

President Duterte even posited the idea to restore strict home quarantine in the event the new strain is detected in our country. If that happens, we are back to square one in our war to contain the virus.

Wishing you a happy and COVID-free New Year!

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