The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it would not push for more stringent health protocols despite the increasing Covid-19 numbers in the country as the current measures remained “effective.”
During a public briefing, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government’s health protocols were regularly scrutinized and verified based on scientific evidence.
“Wala tayong babaguhin. Pareho pa rin po ang siyensya ukol sa isolation and quarantine. Kung ano man ang mga ebidensya natin dati, it is still effective at iyon po ang ating susundan,” she said.
Vergeire made the statement as she reported that the nationwide positivity rate had gone up from 6.9 percent last week to 7.6 percent this week.
“Ang kaso po natin ngayon from just 274 cases per day last week, ngayon nasa 371 cases per day tayo. Tumataas pero hindi naman nagsa-spike nang ganon kataas tulad ng experience natin in the past years,” Vergeire said.
The DOH official also said the government was not keen on requiring masks anew.
“Hindi po tayo ngayon nagko-consider na ibalik ang masking mandate. Ang sa atin lang…we encourage everybody [to wear masks],” she said.
The Philippine government made the wearing of face masks both indoors and outdoors voluntary in the final quarter of 2022.
More than 78.4 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Monday. John Ezekiel J. Hirro