People who are planning to go caroling for this year's holiday season should still practice the necessary precautions to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that carolers should still wear a face mask and face shield as protection.

"Sa pangangaroling po, kailangan lang tandaan na outdoors dapat, na nandyan pa rin dapat yung pagsuot ng face mask at saka face shield (When caroling, you just have to remember that it should be done outdoors and continue to wear a face mask and face shield)," said Vergeire in a television interview on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

“Kailangan din maintindihan ng ating mga kababayan....kung kumakanta, marami pong respiratory particles na nilalabas natin (Our citizens also need to understand that when we sing, we are producing more respiratory particles),” she added.

In a separate statement, Vergeire said “risks may be mitigated if conducted outdoors and outside the household, with appropriate distance from observers, at smaller groups to avoid crowding, and not including the vulnerable and older seniors.”

Vergeire noted that “there are risks for close contacts during transmission under voice-related activities such as singing, especially if conducted in crowded or closed settings.”

Vergeire said that local government units (LGUs) may implement guidelines with regards to Christmas caroling in their respective jurisdiction.

“Under Alert Level 2 guidelines, there are no explicit provisions against caroling, although LGUs are encouraged to develop specific guidelines based on their respective local settings,” the Health official said.

Vergeire encouraged the public to also consider other options such as virtual or online caroling.

Last year, the government discouraged the conduct of karaoke singing and Christmas caroling to prevent the further transmission of COVID-19 cases then.

The Philippines’ COVID-19 cases are still trending downward, said DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday night. Currently, the country’s daily COVID-19 cases range between 1,000 to 2,000 cases.

Duque said that only Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) remain under the "moderate-risk" category for COVID-19, while the regions in the country were under “low-risk” classification.