On March 16, Doctor Anthony Leachon shared his thoughts on the possibility of the Philippines moving into Alert Level 0.
During the media conference for Difflam Media Roundtable, Leachon said the government would not ease restrictions down to Alert Level 0 until the election in May.
“My bold prediction, we will never go to Alert Level 0 until election time. And that’s a sure-fire answer. Do you know why?”
He cited three reasons why the country would remain in Alert Level 1.
First is the number of election sorties amid the pandemic.
“Because of the local election sorties, nakikita niyo naman kung gaano kadami.”
He also listed the weakened health care system outside of Metro Manila as another reason.
“Number two, ang health care system natin in Visayas and Mindanao mahina. Ang NCR-Calabarzon, ‘yan ang mataas. Fifty percent of the doctors are practicing in the NCR, the best hospitals are in the NCR. Napakahirap.”
He then reminded the new variants surfacing globally as the final reason for the restrictions to remain the same.
“And then with the variants threatening us, the Deltacron, the Stealth, the BA2, and then the movement in America preparing for the fourth dose. Ganon lang tayo dapat mag-isip.”
He also explained the horrendous results if the country would experience a resurgence of COVID-19 cases before the elections.
“So my prediction is we will never go to Alert Level 0 until election day. [Because] it would be horrendous kung nagkaroon tayo ng surge during the election time Na dapat, if you want to exercise our democracy, democratic principle, and everything.”
During the media conference, Dr. Leachon highlighted the benefits of taking lozenges with Benzydamine Hydrochloride (BH) and Cetylpyridinium Chloride (CPC) in combating COVID-caused sore throat. Dr. Leachon discussed these findings from the Microbiology and Immunology Institute of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Coincidentally, the lozenge brand Difflam contains Benzydamine Hydrochloride (BH) and Cetylpyridinium Chloride (CPC).
