Duque: Philippines likely under Alert Level 1 until Duterte's term ends
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will likely keep Alert Level 1 as the lowest tier in its pandemic response system until the term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends in June, the country’s health chief said Thursday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said authorities are still studying the possibility of further lowering the country to "Alert Level 0."
"Wala pang nabubuong policy patungkol sa Alert Level 0 at dahil marami pang mga lugar ang nasa Alert Level 2, ‘yun muna ang inaatupag natin ngayon: tulungan sila para ma-de-escalate to Alert Level 1," Duque told state broadcaster People’s Television.
(We have yet to create policies for Alert Level 0. Since there are still a lot of areas under Alert Level 2, we will focus on helping those areas de-escalate to Alert Level 1.)
"Alert Level 1 muna tayo malamang hanggang sa katapusan ng termino ng ating Pangulong Duterte," he added.
(We’ll likely stay at Alert Level 1 until the end of President Duterte’s term.)
Metro Manila and 47 other areas are under Alert Level 1 until end-March. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority earlier said mayors of the capital region are ready for the further easing of pandemic curbs.
The health chief also stressed that it is not yet time to remove the mask mandate even as COVID-19 cases continue to decline.
"Tingin ko hindi pa panahon para magtanggal ng face masks. Matuto tayo sa karanasan ng iba’t-ibang bansa sa Europe," Duque said.
(I think it’s not yet time to remove face masks. Let’s learn from the experience of countries in Europe.)
"Let us be prudent. Let us be guided by data and science through our expert panel," he added.
The Philippines has confirmed over 3.67 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started, with 57,735 deaths.
- Latest
- Trending
