‘Don’t let your guard down, Covid-19 still exists,’ public told

MANILA – National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 medical adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa on Wednesday cautioned the public anew over being complacent amid the decline of active coronavirus cases in the country.

“Huwag nating kakalimutan ibaon ang ating mga face mask, surgical mask at N-95 mask. Tuluy-tuloy pa rin ang recommendation ko na huwag nating alisin iyang recommendation na iyan (Don’t forget to bring extra face mask, surgical mask and N-95 mask. I continue to recommend that, we should not forgo of that recommendation),” Herbosa said at the Laging Handa briefing.

Herbosa said there is still a need to continue adhering to the public minimum health standards, even if the vaccination coverage is increasing.

“Ang experience ng ibang bansa na mataas ang vaccination rate, inalis nila lahat ng mga restrictions, iyong hindi pagsuot ng mask, tinanggal nila. Inalis na nila iyong mask then tumataas iyong kaso nila (We see the experiences of the other countries with high vaccination rate, they remove all the restrictions including wearing of mask. They remove mask requirement, then their cases are now increasing),” he said.

Herbosa noted the dreaded coronavirus still exists in the country, even in areas under a less restrictive Alert Level 1 system.

“So, ako ang recommendation ko habang tayo ay nandito pa rin sa alert level 1, mayroon pa ring paisa-isang may Covid diyan at pag nagkasimtomas tayo kahit tayo nasa bakasyon, mag-isolate po tayo para hindi na natin maikalat iyong – kasi siyempre very important iyong minimum public health standards (So my recommendation is that, while we are still under Alert Level 1, there are still few Covid around us and if we have symptoms while in the vacation, we still need to isolate so that we can’t spread the virus – because it is still important to adhere to minimum public health standards),” he said.

Herbosa said people should be vigilant in going to crowded areas because there is also a high chance of spreading the virus.

“Mas maganda iyong mga bakasyon na medyo hindi masyadong risky. So, gamitin natin iyong ating kaalaman at common sense sa dalawang taon na naman nating ginagawa (Much better if you would go on vacation in not so risky areas. So, we should use our knowledge and common sense, we have been doing this for two years),” he said.

“So, hindi na dapat maiba (it should not change), even if we are allowed to do family vacation or visiting tourist destination dito sa Pilipinas (here in the Philippines),” he added.

The Philippines logged 2,651 new cases from March 23 to 29—lower than the 3,319 infections from the previous week.

The average number of daily cases is at 378, with only one case was added to the severe and critical cases tally.

The nation’s cumulative case fatality rate remained low at 1.61 percent while the recovery rate is at 97.3 percent.