Proactive leadership, cooperation from the public and a science-based approach. These are the three main things needed to prevent the new wave of Covid infections from robbing us of our health and economic recovery, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson said.
Lacson reminded authorities and fellow Filipinos to "cooperate with science" to prevent another major significant wave of this lingering public health crisis, after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) raised the alert level in Metro Manila to "3" following a surge in infections.
On Sunday, Lacson cited the proactive move of Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla to reactivate the provincial Center for Disease Control, and consulting the mayors to upgrade the alert level as a response to an upsurge in Covid cases.
"Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla leads the way. He is reactivating the provincial Center for Disease Control and consulting the mayors to upgrade the alert level. An upsurge from 5 to 100 CoViD cases per day needs proactive leadership and action. He has both," Lacson, a proud Caviteño, said on his Twitter account.
He also reiterated that while authorities should adopt a data-driven approach in dealing with the pandemic, the public should also do their part by observing basic health protocols.
"Just like that, we’re back to 30% indoor and 50% outdoor. Cooperation with science is key," Lacson noted.
Lacson, who is running for President under Partido Reporma, earlier called on public health and law enforcement authorities to press charges against people who were deliberately violating mandatory quarantine protocols like the woman who went viral - literally and virtually - for escaping from her hotel room to party in a public bar.
More importantly, he said steps must be taken to prevent a repeat of the violation that potentially endangered the health of other people.
"Just when we thought we were ready to move on and not worry about CoViD, here we are again, bothered by impending health and economic woes, when we know there are hardly any trade-offs between the two. Among others, that girl who skipped quarantine and partied must be prosecuted," he said.
Lacson has made it clear that fixing the country’s healthcare system to deal with the continuing COVID-19 crisis and all its adverse impact across many sectors and industries remains one of his topmost priorities if he is voted into office come the 2022 May elections.
The three-term senator vowed to institute future-proof economic strategies to address this problem by encouraging public trust on safe and effective vaccines, conducting frequent mass diagnostic testing for free, and easing state-sanctioned lockdowns, among other data-driven solutions.
