Velasco warns public against complacency amid declining COVID-19 cases

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. Photo from the Office of the Speaker, House of Representatives

MANILA, Philippines — With the number of COVID-19 cases dropping and pandemic restrictions being eased, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco warned the people on Monday not to become complacent, urging them not to “let their guards down.”

In a statement, Velasco reminded that the public should continue observing health protocols set by health experts, even amid the declining number of COVID-19 cases.

“Parang nabunutan po tayo ng tinik sa lalamunan at tila nakahinga tayo nang maluwag matapos ang matagal na panahon ng pagpigil ng hininga,” said Velasco in a statement.

(It was as if a thorn had been pulled out of our throat and we seemed to be breathing easily after a long period of holding our breath.)

“Subalit hindi ito ang panahon ng pagiging kampante [but this is not the time to be complacent]. Let us not put our guards down,” he added.

This statement came after the Department of Health (DOH) earlier expressed its worry that active COVID-19 cases in the country may rise up once again in December if Filipinos let their guard down and become complacent in observing health protocols.

On Nov. 5, Metro Manila was placed under the more relaxed alert level 2 for 17 days until Nov. 21. Under this system, restaurants, personal care establishments and fitness studios are now allowed to operate at 50 percent of indoor capacity for fully vaccinated individuals.

Apart from the higher indoor capacity, looser travel restrictions have also been implemented, officially lifting the age-based mobility restrictions in Metro Manila.

Velasco attributed these improvements to the government’s “aggressive mass vaccination strategy.”

“The skies are bluer after the storm. The light [is] brighter after going through a dark tunnel. And even if we are not officially ‘out of the woods’ yet and may have to live with COVID-19 for quite a while, it would seem that the government strategy of aggressive mass vaccination has dramatically brought down the number of mortalities and severe and critical cases of COVID in the country,” Velasco said.

As of Nov. 8, active infections in the country currently sit at 32,077. This accounts for only 1.1 percent of the total 2,805,294 confirmed cases in the country.

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