THE Department of Health (DOH) clarified Thursday, March 17, that experts are still studying the possibility of further deescalating the status of some areas in the country to Alert Level 0 and that Level 1 might remain implemented until the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
In a Laging Handa public briefing Thursday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said placing some areas in the country under Alert Level 0 is still premature considering that the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is still around.
"Sa ngayon, masyadong premature, masyado pang maaga, so Alert Level 1 muna tayo, malamang hanggang sa katapusan ng termino ng ating Pangulong Duterte," he said.
(For now, it’s too premature, too early, so we will likely stay at Alert Level 1 until the end of President Duterte's term.)
Duterte’s term will end in June 2022.
“Tingin ko dahil marami pa namang mga lugar na nasa Alert Level 2 pa, yun muna ang tutukan natin ngayon, ang tulungan sila na ma-deescalate sila to level 1,” he added.
(There are still some areas under Alert Level 2, so let’s focus on them first, in helping them attain the Alert Level 1.)
Duque stressed that experts and government advisers are still studying whether there is a need to further deescalate to Alert Level 0, or whether face mask can already be removed.
"Dahan-dahan tayo (Let's be careful). Let us be prudent and let us be guided by data and science through our expert panel," he said.
Duque said he thinks it is not yet time to remove the face mask, noting the spike of Covid-19 cases in some countries in Europe, such as Austria, Denmark, Germany and France, after people there removed their face mask.
“Hindi pa panahon para magtanggal ng face mask. Matuto tayo sa karanasan ng ibang bansa sa Europa... Ayaw nating matulad sa kanila,” he said.
(It’s not yet time to remove the face mask. Let’s learn from the experience of European countries... We don’t want to end up like them.)
Metro Manila and 48 other areas in the country have been placed under Alert Level 1, the lowest in the country’s Alert Level System, until March 31.
The rest of the country -- around 57 areas -- is under Alert 2.
Duque said these 57 areas need to reach the Alert Level 1 first before the government can consider further easing restrictions.
"Kailangan pa paigtingin ang kanilang vaccination for 70 percent of target population," he said.
(We still need to ramp up their vaccination to 70 percent of the target population.)
Duque called on local government units to further push for the vaccination especially of senior citizens and persons with comorbidities to help the government achieve herd immunity.
As of March 15, the DOH said the Philippines has fully vaccinated at least 64.6 million people against Covid-19.
Duque said Thursday, March 17, that around 1.79 million individuals have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19 during the fourth leg of the national vaccination days, which was extended until Friday, March 18.