The Department of Health (DOH) has expressed alarm over circulating reports of crowding in the different public spaces, saying this could trigger a spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases again.

"Nakakaalarma ito dahil nga pagkanagkukumpulan ang mga tao ay posible na makakita nanaman tayo ng pag-sipa ng mga kaso. Dapat po ito ay maiwasan natin (This is alarming because when people gather, it is possible that we will see an increase in cases again. We must avoid this)," said DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III in a public briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

Duque III reminded the public to always be mindful in adhering to the health protocols, particularly if they are in closed spaces, crowded areas, and close contact activities.

"Dapat po ay sumusunod tayo sa minimum public health standards o non-pharmaceutical interventions. Ito ay may taglay na proteksyon (We must comply with the minimum public health standards or non-pharmaceutical interventions. These provide protection)," he said.

"Lahat ito ay mga praktikal na panuntunan na huwag natin babalewalain dahil matagal na po nating napatunayan na ito ay tunay na effective after 20 months of non-stop COVID-19 pandemic response (These are all practical rules that we should not ignore because we have long proven that they are truly effective after 20 months of non-stop COVID-19 pandemic response)," he added.

Duque also urged the people to get vaccinated against the viral illness.

"Itong mga bakuna na ito ay napatunayang epektibo laban sa severe and critical na komplikasyon dulot ng COVID-19 infection (These vaccines have been proven effective against severe and critical complications caused by COVID-19 infection)," he said.

Duque, meanwhile, said that Metro Manila may be put under the lowest alert level by next month if the number of COVID-19 cases continue to decrease.

"Depende iyan. Titingnan natin ang numero, ang datos. Kung ang datos ay bumababa, halimbawa kahapon a little over 2,000 lang tayo, so posible na kapag below 1,000 or 500 per day ay baka pwede natin ibaba pa sa Alert level 1 (That depends. We'll look at the numbers, the data. If the data shows a downward trend in cases, for example yesterday we were just a little over 2,000 cases, so it's possible that when it's below 1,000 or 500 per day we might be able to lower it to Alert level 1)," he said.

"Sino ba naman ang ayaw na mas mababa ang ating alert level? ...mas malaking bahagi ng ekonomiya ang mabubuksan at marami din tayong mababawi na mga trabaho na nawala (Who doesn't want our alert level to be lower?... a larger part of the economy will be opened up and we will also be able to resume the operations of the other jobs)," he added.