DOH: Stick to health protocols despite ‘pandemic fatigue’

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is hoping that Filipinos will continue to follow the minimum health standards against COVID-19 to control its spread in the country amid the so-called pandemic fatigue.

“We are all experiencing this fatigue — this pandemic fatigue, quarantine fatigue. Alam natin halos lahat ng kababayan gustong gusto nang bumalik sa dati,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing Wednesday.

(We are all experiencing this fatigue — this pandemic fatigue, quarantine fatigue. We know that almost all our countrymen want to go back to normal.)

“Pero ang lagi ho nating pinapaalala, hindi na po tayo babalik sa dati. Kaya may tinatawag tayo na new normal.”

(But what we always remind is that we will never go back to what it used to be. That’s why we have the so-called new normal.)

“At ito pong new normal na ito, ito po ‘yung nagbibigay sa atin ng kasiguruhan na kahit merong virus sa ating environment, we will still be protected if we are going to comply to these minimum standards,” she added.

(And this new normal, this will give us the assurance that even if there is a virus in our environment, we will still be protected if we are going to comply with these minimum standards.)

The Health official further said living in the “new normal” requires “sacrifices” such as the wearing of face masks and face shields, physical distancing, and frequent hand washing to curb the spread of the coronavirus that has already sickened over 38 million people worldwide.

The World Health Organization earlier said rising levels of “COVID-19 fatigue” are being seen in Europe after months of lockdowns, uncertainty, and disruption to normal life.

The region is now experiencing a second wave of coronavirus infections and instead of enforcing lockdowns, governments are putting emphasis on the observance of good personal hygiene, physical distancing measures, and other health protocols against COVID-19.

In the Philippines, which has one of the longest coronavirus lockdowns in the world, a total of 344,713 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed nationwide as of October 13. This number includes 293,383 recoveries and 6,372 deaths.

KGA