The Department of Health (DOH) is reminding the public to not be "complacent" or let their guard down as the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over.
DOH officer-in-charge (OIC) Maria Rosario Vergeire made the statement after the World Health Organization (WHO) recently lifted the global state of COVID-19 public health emergency.
"Even though the DOH lifted the public health emergency as an international concern status, hindi nila sinabi na tapos na ang pandemya," she underscored during a press conference on Tuesday.
"We cannot be complacent at this point. Kailangan tuloy-tuloy pa rin tayo maging mapagmatyag. Kailangan we will be vigilant," Vergeire added.
Meanwhile, the DOH OIC said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had already convened and it is set to submit its recommendations on the country's COVID-19 situation to President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. next week.
"But rest assured that the Department of Health has been able to provide the proposals and recommendations and there was this discussion among our member agencies," she added.
On the other hand, Vergeire reiterated that the health department is not considering reimposing the mandatory health mask policy amid the increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.
"Katulad ng aming nasagot before, we cannot have back and forth policies sa gobyerno. Kailangan moving forward tayong lahat," she said.
The DOH OIC added that the public should not panic every time the number of COVID-19 cases rises.
"Kailangan alam na natin na virus is here to stay at ang mga kaso ay talagang tataas o bababa," she added.
As of May 7, the weekly positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) hit 22.9% from 17.8% on April 30.
There are 4,105,498 COVID-19 cases in the country with 12,125 active cases, data from the health department released on May 9.
