To Sum Up:

+ People infected by COVID-19 experience long-term conditions even after recovery, known as “long COVID.”

+ There is limited information on long COVID in the Philippines, but one study shows around 80% of its participants have developed the condition.

+ The Philippine Genome Center, which played an important role in studying the COVID-19 variants in the country, has learned lessons to prepare the country for another pandemic.

Metro Manila, Philippines - The COVID-19 pandemic has ended, with society operating in somewhat normal conditions… but not for Pia Andrea Saez, who felt the disease altered her health years after.

Saez, now 31, was hit with a severe critical infection of COVID-19, and hospitalized for nearly two months at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

“Nag-follow-up checkup ako, I have scars sa lungs ko,” she told NewsWatch Plus. “Nararamdaman ko pa rin ‘yong tindi ng effect ng COVID-19 sa akin.”

[Translation: I had a follow-up check-up and there were scars on my lungs. I still feel the effects of COVID-19.]

Saez did not contract COVID-19 anew as she put herself into self-quarantine after her hospitalization.

But after her bout with the coronavirus, she said she would easily catch a fever after getting drenched with rain. She would get tired quickly. Weight loss was also a struggle. Memory loss became a problem as well.

“Siguro other people don’t know that COVID-19’s recovery does not stop dun sa quarantine, it will take a long time talaga,” Saez said.

[Translation: Maybe other people don’t know that recovery from COVID-19 does not stop in quarantine. It will take a long time.]

Long COVID

Saez, a language school teacher, could not comprehend the prolonged agony of the effect of COVID-19 on her at the beginning. But she joined group chats on social media where she met people like her and saw information explaining their conditions — long COVID.

“‘Yung dating ako, ‘yung health ko before, hindi na ‘yun para no’ng ngayon kahit pa nag-recover na ako,” Saez said of long COVID.

[Translation: Even if I have recovered from COVID-19, my health now is different than before.]

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines long COVID as “the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least two months with no other explanation.”

Common symptoms of the post COVID-19 condition include fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction, or what others call “brain fog.” Reported symptoms could impact on daily functioning, the WHO also said.

“Studies show that around 10–20% of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 may go on to develop symptoms that can be diagnosed as long COVID,” the WHO said. “Although exact numbers of those living with the condition are uncertain, it is believed that more than 17 million people across the WHO European Region may have experienced it during the first two years of the pandemic (2020/21).”

Local cases

Cynthia Saloma, the former executive director of the Philippine Genome Center, led a study on exploring the possible effects of COVID-19 variants of concern to the condition.

The PGC conducted efforts to determine coronavirus variants within the country amid the pandemic.

Saloma and PGC’s lab manager Edsel Ayes published their project in the Frontiers in Medicine journal in November 2024. They found that long COVID symptoms were reported in around 80 percent of their study participants, which came from different Philippine regions.

“Long COVID is manifested by a lot of people, except that probably the symptoms are not so debilitating enough that it has concerned our healthcare systems but it exists,” Saloma told NewsWatch Plus.

“I don’t know whether there is a long policy by the government to monitor this, but I think it should be done,” she said.

There is still limited information on long COVID in the Philippines. The Department of Health has stopped publicizing the number of COVID-19 cases in the country since January 2024.

According to the government, around four million have been infected by COVID-19, with 66,864 deaths.

For Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, observing minimum public health standards is a way to fight against COVID-19.

“Managing your own personal risk, ito ‘yong na-change na narrative [this is the changed narrative],” Herbosa said in December 2023. “During the pandemic, the government tried to protect everyone — blanket. Now, it’s back to individual-based risk management.”

Health on the lookout

While laser-focused on COVID-19 in previous years, the PGC is transitioning back to its core purpose of genomic research in various disciplines.

But the center knows its role in securing public health and preparing the country for another pandemic.

“What can we learn from the work that has been done in the past, in this case on COVID, that we might apply to another future pandemic or another disease that, of course, still affects the Filipinos?” said PGC Officer-in-charge Neil Andrew Bascos.

Bascos, who is also program director for PGC’s Protein, Proteomics, and Metabolomics Facility, underscored how looking deeper to parts of cells, proteins, and other scientific data could actually determine potential treatments and lowering infections.

Michael Velarde, also a PGC officer-in-charge, said after the COVID-19 pandemic, the center can also research non-infectious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and other cardiovascular diseases.

The PGC’s COVID-19 testing lab is readying itself for a bigger purpose: an area to study genetic information for precision medicine and improved patient diagnosis.

“We want to push these efforts to drive research and innovation so that we could now do testing and instead of outsourcing it outside…So we see that why not do it here?” Velarde told NewsWatch Plus.

Ready for the next pandemic?

When asked the question, the three PGC officials said the center’s experience and institutional memory are vital to help the country during a health emergency.

“If the pandemic comes, how can we be equipped? If the personnel are not trained, continuously trained, if the technology becomes obsolete, which occurs, and all the sequencers broke, if there’s no continued support?” Velarde told NewsWatch Plus.

“So it’s very important that there’s continuity so that we don’t lose the technology,” he said.

Under the 2025 budget, the Department of Health has allocated around P51 million for the PGC “to support the sustainment of its genomic biosurveillance efforts.”

Velarde also said such funding enhances their collaboration with the DOH and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

Meanwhile, Saez and other ordinary Filipinos also appealed to the government.

“Sana ma-push na para hindi lang sa may pera ang proper medical [care], para sana siya sa lahat,” she said.

“I hope maging mas maayos na ‘yong situation natin,” she added.

[Translation: I hope we can push for a health system where proper medical care is not only for those who have money, but to all. I hope we have a better situation now.]