The six-month long phase three of the National Action Plan (NAP), the country's over-all response strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the country's guide in transitioning to the "new normal" and co-existing with the virus.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said on Tuesday that the NAP Phase 3 is officially implemented from October 2020 to March 2021.

"Ang NAP Phase 3 ang gagabay sa ating pagtawid sa new normal. Ito po ang parang magiging transition point kasi ang Phase 3 ay anim na buwan po ito, buo po ng last quarter at 'yung first quarter kasi mag-transition po tayo ng new normal. By that time baka magkaroon na ng mga trials sa ating mga vaccines (The NAP Phase 3 will guide us as we move to the new normal. This will be the transition point because the Phase 3 will last for six months, from the last quarter to the first quarter when we transition to the new normal. By that time, we might have trials for the vaccines)," said Galvez at a Laging Handa press briefing.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) described the new normal as 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."

Some of these standards may include the wearing of face masks and shields, and the practice of social distancing.

Health experts being consulted by the government said that the earliest time that the country may acquire a vaccine is by April 2021.

While awaiting for the potential vaccine, Galvez reiterated that an equilibrium should be reached between ensuring public health and economic recovery in the NAP Phase 3. The country’s economy went into tailspin due to the imposition of nationwide lockdowns in the Phase 1.

"Sa pagpasok ng NAP Phase 3, wala na pong trade-off. Kailangan magkaroon ng striking balance o equilibrium between the economy and health. Gagamitin natin ang mga aral na natutunan natin sa pagpapatupad ng Phase 1 at 2 (In the NAP Phase 3, there will be no more trade-off. There should be a striking balance or equilibrium between the economy and health. We will use the lessons we learned when we implemented the Phases 1 and 2)," he said.

Galvez cited the situation in Cebu City and Metro Manila which, he said, successfully managed the COVID-19 cases after initially being overwhelmed by the surge of infections.

"Sobrang napababa ang cases from as high as more or less 50 percent ang active cases, ngayon more or less nasa 3.9 percent or 5 percent na lang ang kanilang active cases. Karamihan may below 10 percent, may iba above 10 percent (The active cases were reduced from as high as 50 percent to 3.9 percent or 5 percent. There are some who had below 10 percent active cases, while others have above 10 percent)," Galvez said.

As of Monday, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed Metro Manila has 168,974 total cases, of which, 11.28 percent or 19,059 cases were considered as active cases.

Meanwhile, Cebu City has 22,411 total cases where 6.30 percent or 1,414 were active cases.

Further, unlike the NAP Phase 1 and Phase 2, which were implemented from March to June, and July to September respectively, Galvez said the Phase 3 needs to be executed for a longer period of time so the people will not be overwhelmed by the changes and easing of quarantine restrictions in the new normal.

To prevent a potential surge of infections, the chief implementer stressed that testing, tracing, isolation, and treatment strategies must be strengthened by building more facilities and employing more health care workers.

"Dito po sa NAP Phase 3, ang importante ay maipagpatuloy ang tagumpay na nakamit nitong nakaraang anim na buwan. Ang third phase po ng NAP ay tututok sa pagpigil ng pag-akyat ng mga kaso at i-akyat ang antas ng recovery to our medical therapists, at pagbaba ng mortality (In the NAP Phase 3, what's important is we sustain the gains in the past six months. The third phase of NAP will focus on preventing the increase of the cases, find ways to increase our recovery rate, and decrease the mortality)," Galvez said.

"Sa paraang ito, mas magiging ligtas ang mga mamamayan at mas malaki ang tsansa na makarecover at mas mbilis ang pag-akyat natin sa economic recovery (In this way, the public will be secure and there will be a bigger chance for our economy to recover)," he concluded.