Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Monday said the Philippines had overcome the threat of the highly infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant, which caused a surge in cases earlier in the year.
“Mr. President, finally nakaraos na rin po tayo sa ating mahigpit na pagsubok na dala ng Omicron,” Galvez told President Rodrigo Duterte during the latter’s “Talk to the People” address.
Galvez said the placement of 39 areas including Metro Manila under Alert Level 1 would begin the country’s roadmap to the “new normal.”
“However, kailangan pa rin po natin na maging vigilant at gabayan natin ang buong sambayanan, ang ating LGUs at lahat ng institusyon to self-regulate and manage and live with the virus,” Galvez added.
The country’s active Covid-19 cases decreased to 51,592 on Tuesday.
As of Feb. 28, 20 percent of the country’s hospital beds were occupied, which is under the “safe” metric for occupancy rate.
More than 63 million individuals have completed their vaccinations in the country. John Ezekiel J. Hirro