DOH: All areas in PH now under low risk status for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — All areas in the country are now under low risk status for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Tuesday.

“Lahat po ng areas natin ngayon sa ating bansa, maski ‘yung mga nasa ilalim ng Alert Level 2 ay low risk na ang kanilang classification. Patuloy pa nating pinapataas ang ating bakunahan sa mga lugar na nasa Alert Level 2 para makapagpababa pa sila at makarating na at made-escalate sa Alert Level 1,” Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH spokesperson, said in an online press briefing.

(All areas in the country, even those under Alert Level 2, are under low risk classification. We are continuously increasing the vaccination coverage in areas under Alert Level 2 so we can de-escalate them to Alert Level 1.)

“Para naman po sa Metro Manila at 39 pang mga area, patuloy pong lumuluwag ang restrictions at mas malaya nang nakakagalaw ang mga tao dahil sa ating high vaccination rate at patuloy na pagsunod sa minimum public health standards,” she added.

(In Metro Manila and 39 other areas, restrictions are being loosened and people are free to move because of the high vaccination rate and compliance to minimum public health standards.)

VACATION SPOT Bus trips to Baguio City from Metro Manila and other parts of northern and central Luzon and vice versa are gradually increasing as health and travel restrictions are eased due to the continuous decline in COVID-19 cases around the country. INQUIRER file photo / EV ESPIRITU

Vergeire also noted that the country has not seen a new wave of COVID-19 cases even with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants. She said that the Deltacron variant has not been detected in the Philippines and that there is no evidence that it will have an adverse effect on the country’s health system.

The country has 46,256 remaining active COVID-19 cases as of Monday, based on the tracker of the DOH. A total of 4,131 new cases were recorded from March 7 to 13—or an average of 590 new cases per day—which are 35 percent lower than the new cases from February 28 to March 6.

With the continuous decrease in COVID-19 cases, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that the government’s pandemic managers will discuss the guidelines for a possible Alert Level 0, which could end most of the health emergency restrictions.

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JPV