By Analou De Vera An official of the World Health Organization (WHO) advised the public that it is still better to stay at home amid the easing of community quarantine measures in many areas of the country to prevent the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases from increasing. “It is very important to stay at home for the public to prevent further spread of the infection. As we are seeing, the number of newly reported cases is not rapidly decreasing, even after the strict implementation of the community quarantine. "And then, I think we need to be very careful,” Dr. Takeshi Nishijima, technical officer of the WHO-Western Pacific Region Office, said in the Department of Health (DOH) press briefing on Tuesday afternoon (May 26). The DOH reported 350 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total number of cases to 14,669. The Health department also announced 89 new recoveries and 13 more deaths, bringing the tally of recoveries to 3,412 while the death toll is at 886. Nishijima said the public must always observe other precautionary measures. “At this stage, it is very very important for us to be aware of that potential of having the rise in the number of new cases again. I personally think that it is very important to stay at home and practice known pharmaceutical interventions like physical distancing, cough etiquette, and all those kind of things,” he said. “In the Philippines, we are seeing the new number of cases which kind of stabilized. We are hoping that it will decrease in the future. For that, I think we need to be prepared to continue what we do right now,” he added. Nishijima also said the international body will continue to provide assistance to the Philippines in its fight against COVID-19. “WHO is very much committed to continue to support the Philippines and the DOH and the people here,” he said.