‘No more secrets’

Although he had primary doses and booster shots, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) suffered reinfection from the highly contagious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As of this writing, it is not known yet if PBBM got the more infectious Omicron variant, or perhaps one of its subvariants. Although more contagious, the Omicron and its subvariants are found to be less fatal, especially if the patient already got jabbed with first two doses of anti-COVID vaccination.

Despite global rollouts of anti-COVID vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly cautioned the international community on the lingering dangers of the pandemic amid the evolving variants that can spread much faster. To date, the Omicron that originated from South Africa has mutated into several other subvariants.

Now we are in the Omicron subvariant replacement phase. BA.1 was replaced by BA.2 and then BA.2 was replaced by BA.2.12.1. Starting in early 2022, the latest of these subvariants of concern became the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. Unfortunately, both BA.4 and BA.5 are capable of escaping immune protection induced by infection with earlier Omicron and other prior variants. Hence, the term “stealth” viruses.

The unvaccinated are even less likely to be protected against symptomatic COVID infection. Fortunately, the third anti-COVID vaccine booster has shown to slow down infection, spread, and serious disease from older variants. However, methinks wearing of facemasks and observing the minimum health protocols must remain as add-on defenses against such viruses with airborne transmissions.

Sadly, we now have local community transmissions here in our country of these subvariants. Our own Department of Health (DOH) already sounded the alarm bells of a potential surge anew of the pandemic. Notably worrisome is the uptrend of COVID-19 cases at the national capital region (NCR) and other parts of the country that the DOH has placed in less restrictive Alert Level-1.

So there was public concern when Malacañang announced last Friday President Marcos contracted again COVID-19 infection. The 64-year old President is already a typical senior citizen with comorbidities.

He first got sick of COVID-related pneumonia way back in March 2020 when the Wuhan strain reached our shores at that time. It was during the height of the pandemic when there was not a drop of vaccines yet available in our country. He fell very ill after returning here from a trip in Europe and had to line up for admission to hospitals already over filled with COVID patients.

Thankfully, his reinfection is a less severe one. He reportedly had only fever last Thursday. Given this flu-like symptoms, he underwent antigen test that turned positive. The President’s antigen test will undergo confirmatory testing using the WHO “gold standard” of real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). It should undergo genome sequencing as well, if I may suggest.

Most likely than not, his RT-PCR would turn positive, too, since antigen has an 80 to 85% accuracy.

Like any other COVID-infected person, President Marcos was forced to self-isolate. Malacañang started contact-tracing all the government officials and other individuals who met with him. Since day one in office, he has done whirlwind of official activities and ceremonial functions. From June 30 inaugural programs, he received thousands of well wishers who included visiting foreign dignitaries. He presided mass oathtaking of newly appointed officials in government on Monday and had long hours of meetings with his Cabinet members on Tuesday.

And on Wednesday, he sat down with officials of the Department of Health (DOH) to discuss with them the updated status reports of on-going government’s vaccination and campaign programs to fight the pandemic. As of this writing though, President Marcos has yet to appoint his new Health Secretary.

So far, it was only Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla who tested COVID-positive in both antigen and RT-PCR tests. Incidentally, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. who was the designated “vaccine czar” during the recently ended administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte was told by Malacañang to stay on his post. He will remain at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) “on a holdover capacity until Dec. 31, 2022, or until his replacement has been appointed, whichever comes first.”

Galvez has repeatedly reassured the public about the more-than-enough stocks of anti-COVID vaccines to immunize 90% of our population by the end of this year. Like the rest of the world caught with unprecedented deadly pandemic, our country’s poor state of public health system struggled to cope with COVID-19 when it struck us more than two years ago.

“There were shortcomings in the COVID response. We will fix them out in the open. No more secrets in public health. Remember, I speak from experience. I was among the first to get COVID. It was not a walk in the park,” President Marcos declared in his inaugural address on June 30. “We won’t be caught unprepared, underequipped and understaffed to fight the next pandemic,” he vowed.

Six days later, President Marcos got the virus. He was supposed to meet last Friday at Malacañang with the newly elected officials of local government units (LGUs). The Chief Executive asked Vice President Sara Duterte, concurrently his Education Secretary, to meet with them instead at Malacañang. He just joined them virtually via teleconference.

President Marcos called upon all LGUs to conduct “large-scale immunization drive” for booster shot. This would specifically target school children as part of preparations for the full resumption of face-to-face classes starting in August or September.

While the President is keeping his promise to be transparent about public health issues, rabid Marcos bashers went into social media frenzy. They now accuse him as lazy and was supposedly using COVID as excuse.

Which should be the case? No more secrets in public health, or the President’s health becomes another State secret?