Philippines' ‘new normal’ means all areas under Alert Level 1 —Vergeire

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Tuesday said all areas in the country must be under Alert Level 1 in order to reach the “new normal” amid COVID-19 pandemic.

In a media forum, Vergeire said placing an area under the loosest alert should consider other quantifiable measures such as case trends, utilization rate in hospitals and vaccination rate.

“Para tayo makatuntong sa susunod nating level para doon po sa new normal na sinasabi natin kailangan lahat ng areas sa bansa natin nasa Alert Level 1, meaning you can translate that into quantifiable measures," she said.

"Ang atin pong mga metrics na ginagamit dapat ma-reach nila that would be the case trends, utilization in hospitals, plus vaccination rate so all of the areas have to be  Alert Level 1,” she added.

“Mababa ang kaso, mababa ang pagkakaospital, at mataas ang bakunahan and that is the definition po 'pag sinasabi nating endemic pero hindi lang yan ang tinitingnan when it said endemic state nandyan pa rin po ang mga variants na pwedeng dumating sa atin, nandyan pa rin po in terms of societal factors,” she added.

The National Capital Region (NCR) and over 30 other areas in the country were placed under Alert Level 1 from March 1 to 15, 2022.

Vergeire underscored that the transition to Alert Level in several areas does not mean that the pandemic is over, noting that health protocols must be strictly observed.

She then encouraged the public to get inoculated to be protected against the viral disease.

“Nais pong linawin ng DOH ang pagta-transition natin to Alert Level 1 ay hindi nangangahulugang tapos na ang pandemya dahil tayo ay nasa ilalim pa rin ng state of public health emergency,” she said.

“Gayun din kinakailangan pa rin natin sumunod sa ating minimum public health standards at agarang magpabakuna dahil maliban sa naririyan pa rin ang virus maari pa rin magkaroon ng bagong variants sa hinaharap,” she added.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared a public health emergency over the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country last March 2020.

Quarantine period for asymptomatic, fully vaxxed under Alert Level 1

The Health official, citing the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases resolution, said individuals who are asymptomatic, exposed to COVID-19 positive patients, and fully vaccinated are no longer required to undergo quarantine under Alert Level 1.

“Pinalabas na po yan sa IATF resolution para po sa Alert Level 1 areas kapag kayo ay asymptomatic ibig sabihin walang sintomas close contact kayo ng isang positibong individual at kayo ay fully vaccinated wala na pong kailangan or zero days for quarantine,” she said.

“Pero kailangan niyo pong mag-self monitor kung saka sakali na magkakaramdam kayo ng sintomas magisolate po kaagad tawagan ang local government para po kayo ay ma-guide kung ano ang kailangan gawin,” she added.

Meanwhile, over 63 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, exactly a year since the Philippine government started its vaccine rollout.

Of the total of 135,747,294 vaccine doses administered nationwide, 68,808,944 individuals have received their first dose, while 10,214,164 have received their booster shots after reaching the three to six month requirement.

The government is eyeing to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by the end of March, and 90 million by the time President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office on June 30, 2022.—LDF, GMA News