Health protocols must still be observed even if the government decides to place a coronavirus-free area under the "new normal" classification, according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.
Nograles said the proposed new normal status for places that record zero transmission of coronavirus for a certain period will be "less restrictive" but will still be subject to health and safety standards to avoid a resurgence of the disease.
"If we see a locality that has had no COVID-19 transmissions locally for the past, let’s say weeks, then there’s an opportunity for us to create a new classification of the new normal," Nograles said during an online press conference organized by the Presidential Communications Operations Office Wednesday.
"But just a warning that even if there is no technical community quarantine in a new normal, then the same safety and health protocols must still be imposed and followed by the residents therein," he said.
The post-community quarantine status will still be discussed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Nograles said.
"I don’t know if that’s the term that’s going to be used but the new normal wherein it’s going to be less restrictive," he said. "That is something that is on the table that will be discussed by the IATF," he added.
Early this week, Malacañang announced government plans to introduce the “new normal" classification for areas that post zero coronavirus transmission in the past month.
The country is largely under the relaxed coronavirus lockdown as the government seeks to revitalize economic activity and enhance health care resources to slow down the spread of the disease. The country's community quarantine classification will expire at the end of the month unless modified by President Duterte.
At present, the government implements four lockdown levels to contain the spread of the coronavirus, namely enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for areas with high risk of infection, as well as general community quarantine (GCQ) for moderate risk places, and modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) for low risk areas.
Under the government's omnibus guidelines on community quarantine, areas where no community quarantine is in place can be considered as being under the new normal. It said the new normal "refers to the emerging behaviors, situations, and minimum public health standards that will be institutionalized in common or routine practices and remain even after the pandemic while the disease is not totally eradicated through means such as widespread immunization.”
"These include actions that will become second nature to the general public as well as policies such as the ban on large gatherings that will continue to remain in force," the IATF guidelines read.