Philippines still in Covid-19 emergency phase

Maria Rosario Vergeire, the officer in charge of the Department of Health. - INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): The Philippines is still not out of the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic despite the “manageable” situation of cases and hospitalisations being kept to a minimum despite the many in-person gatherings over the holidays.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Maria Rosario Vergeire , officer in charge of the Department of Health (DOH), said that recent case trends, which have been either plateauing or declining, could not be considered “no longer [in] an emergency [status].“We know the virus crosses borders and we are not really certain at this point if new variants in other countries will not enter the country,” she added.