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MANILA, Philippines — The current uptick in COVID-19 infections should not alarm the public and the government should not raise yet the alert levels as long as hospitals are not yet full, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said Friday.
Concepcion said the country should not solely focus on the number of infections since the COVID-19 Omicron variant, while highly transmissible, will mostly cause only mild symptoms.
“Ang importante ngayon, hindi ‘yung pagtaas ng infections level kasi alam natin ‘yung Omicron ay mild,” he said in a public briefing.
(What is important now is not the infection levels because we know that Omicron is mild.)
“We should only be concerned and maybe raise alert levels if the hospitals start to get full,” Concepcion added.
He said that while doctors report more patients in hospitals, many of those admitted are not COVID-related cases.
“I don’t think we should be alarmed, I think Omicron is highly infectious but very mild,” he said.
Concepcion said the Omicron variant is a “blessing” as it gave Filipinos natural immunity during the surge of cases in January.
“Nakita ko nagbigay din ng natural immunity sa mga tao rin natin kaya halos moving these past few months, mababa ‘yung infections despite of the rallies,” he said.
(I saw that it gave natural immunity to our people that’s why infections are low these past few months.)
“Omicron is a variant, to me, that is a blessing in a sense,” Concepcion added.
Return to work-from-home setup?
Amid calls for a return of the work-from-home setup amid the rising number of COVID-19 infections, Concepcion said the ball is now in the hands of the private sector.
“‘Yung private sector dapat sila, they should make the call whether they allow some work from home,” he said.
He also acknowledged that many are calling to return to a remote setup, especially with the rising prices of fuel products.
“May ilan diyan na masyado mataas ‘yung presyo ng gasolina kaya bumaba ‘yung mobility natin sa mga kotse, halos walang traffic,” he said.
(Some of them are complaining about high fuel prices that’s why mobility of our cars is likewise reduced, there’s almost no traffic.)
The continuing hike in fuel product prices, said Concepcion, will be a big problem in the country moving forward as the economy will be affected in the long run.
“The rising prices will affect consumer demand for our products at will cost a slowing down fo the economy if this continues,” Concepcion said.