By Marvin Tort HEALTH WORKERS at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute are inoculated with Sinovac’s CoronaVac on March 3. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS With the government starting to vaccinate people against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) this week, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the economy could return to pre-pandemic levels earlier than 2023. That is, if the government can also help businesses find ways to go about their affairs despite existing quarantine restrictions in the meantime. But how can we allow businesses to operate at higher capacity if in the business and financial district — Makati City — the number of active COVID-19 cases has gone up considerably in the last 10 days? From 261 on Feb. 21, active cases have gone up to 435 as of March 1. That’s a total of 174 cases in nine days, or an average of 19 new cases daily.