Joey Concepcion thinks the Philippines should take its cue from the United Kingdom and other countries and come to terms with the fact that the virus likely to remain for the long-term.
The Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and GoNegosyo founder said the country must decide how it will live with COVID-19.
“Maybe my thoughts are bit ahead, but I think we should start thinking and have that in mind because I don’t think a sector can last a two-year lockdown, especially the tourism sector –– and that is the sector that will give life to many of our small and micro entrepreneurs, because many are connected to the tourism sector,” Concepcion told One News in an interview.
“I think it’s about time we start to move on. Thailand has announced again it will open it borders and allow tourists to come…also Switzerland. Of course, the most radical is the UK saying that we get rid of face masks, no more vaccine passports, and all of that –– they’ll forget all of the protocols with regards to covid and just move on to a normal life. We’re not saying that,” he explained.
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Concepcion said the Philippines should start scaling down quarantine and isolation protocols for incoming travelers as well as those suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19.
“No amount of quarantine that we have done has stopped any variant from coming to the Philippines. None. They have all entered – Delta, Alpha… We can see now a gradual downward trend of Omicron. Once we get to a lower level, then we can now bring it (quarantine) back to 3 days, and eventually, consider doing away with facility quarantine,” he said.
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This, he said, would allow businesses to stay open while those that had been shuttered could restart operations with greater confidence.