The government is targeting next week for the completion of a “very comprehensive” COVID-19 transition plan, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
“This is something we would launch as soon as all the inputs from the different sectors have been submitted. This is really a very comprehensive map on shifting to the new normal,” Duque said on Wednesday in a television interview.
He said the transition plan would “hopefully be finished by [midweek] next week.”
Duque said he had met with the National Economic and Development Authority and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases to discuss the strategy for various sectors on how to “live with” the coronavirus.
He said the plan’s major components included public health, security, and the economy.
“I think that’s an important philosophical underpinning: that the virus is here to stay, so we have to live with it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the fourth national vaccination drive has been tentatively scheduled on March 10-12, with healthcare workers bringing the jabs directly to homes and workplaces.
The theme of the fourth installment of “Bayanihan Bakunahan” is “March to Vaccinate,” Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said.
From being considered the worst last month, the Philippines has improved in the ranking of countries being evaluated for their pandemic response, as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 866 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
The figure represented the lowest daily tally this year, but eight labs did not submit data.
The Philippines regained the 50th spot among 53 countries included in the latest COVID-19 Resilience Ranking of the media and data company Bloomberg for February. It was in that spot in the report released last December. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2022 / Tina G. Santos)
