Lacson: Gov’t should study treating COVID-19 from pandemic to endemic

Presidential aspirant and Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday said the government should already study the possibility of shifting from pandemic to endemic state.

In a radio interview, Lacson cited how some countries in Europe are already treating the COVID-19 health crisis as endemic.

“Ang position ko, it’s about time kasi talagang matindi 'yung inabot ng economy natin for the past two years. Sa Europe nga ang trato nila dito ay endemic. Hindi na ito pandemic… Dapat pag-aralan pero dapat bilisan din ang pag-aaral,” he said.

(My position is it's about time to act swiftly because our economy has suffered a lot for the past two years. In Europe, some countries are already treating the health crisis as endemic and not a pandemic. We should study this but we should do it immediately.)

“May mga makokonsulta naman tayong health experts here and abroad. So ‘yun dapat ang gawing aksyon ngayon ng gobyerno,” he added.

(We could consult with health experts here in the country and abroad. That is the action that should be taken by the government right now.)

Lacson also expressed support to presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion's suggestion to remove the alert level system.

He then suggested a “future-proof” strategy to be adopted by the government for the country’s long-term plan for its COVID-19 response.

“‘Yung pangmatagalan naman kailangan ang pagtugon natin, ‘yung future-proof strategy. ‘Yung pati paghahanda kung sakaling may dadating uli na bagong variant na matindi uli, parang Delta, naka-ready na tayo ‘don. ‘Wag na tayo mabulaga,” he said.

(Our long-term plan for our COVID-19 response should adopt a future-proof strategy. We should include preparations for new variants and even for variants as fatal as Delta. We should not be caught off guard.)

In October 2021, Lacson said he will scrap lockdowns from the COVID-19 response of the government if elected president in Eleksyon 2022.

He also emphasized the need for a proactive, science-based, and data-driven response to the pandemic.—AOL, GMA News