EDITORIAL — Pandemic resilience Remember COVID-19?

As the lethal virus rampaged across the country and the rest of the planet, killing thousands and then millions, there was much talk about the need to prepare for the next pandemic.

The return of COVID cases in the Philippines, although mild, should prompt a review of how much has been done by way of pandemic resilience.

From June 11 to July 1, confirmed COVID cases in Quezon City surged from 23 to 84, with children aged 14 and below accounting for most of the cases.

The 84 brought the total since the start of the year to 146, according to the city’s Epidemiology and Surveillance Division.

City and Department of Health officials have stressed that all the cases are mild, even as they encouraged the public to practice health protocols that were common during the COVID pandemic.

Since the first COVID patient was detected and confirmed in the Philippines in January 2020 – a female tourist from Wuhan, China – nearly 4.2 million COVID cases have been recorded in the Philippines as of June 6 this year, with 66,864 reported deaths.

Over 7.1 million confirmed COVID deaths worldwide have been reported to the World Health Organization since the outbreak was first reported in Wuhan in December 2019, although the WHO believes the actual death toll could exceed 20 million.

It took about two years before the threat significantly eased, as more vaccines and accurate testing kits became widely available. Even as new variants circulated, mobility restrictions were lifted and life gradually returned to normal.

The Philippines, where the public health system was inadequate even before the arrival of COVID, suffered from an acute lack of the most basic defenses against the virus: face masks, personal protective equipment and alcohol. In impoverished and underdeveloped communities, the lack of access to safe water prevented regular handwashing, a basic defense against pathogens. These problems should not crop up again in case another pandemic, even on a milder scale, occurs.

Epidemiologists are reminding the public to watch out for the symptoms of COVID: fever or chills, sore throat and difficulty in breathing, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, body aches, runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea.

Most Filipinos know the importance of observing respiratory hygiene and isolating themselves to prevent infecting others. With COVID killing tens of thousands in the country, the lessons of the pandemic must not be forgotten.