Despite the continuous decline in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, the Department of Health (DOH) encouraged the public to conduct celebrations virtually this holiday season to further mitigate the spread of the virus.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reminded the public that COVID-19 remains a threat.
“Bagama’t bumababa ang cases dito sa ating bansa, kailangan natin isipin na nandyan pa din ang COVID at maari pa din tayong mainfect at makapag-infect ng mga tao (Although the number of cases is decreasing, we need to keep in mind that COVID is still there and we can still be infected or infect others),” said Vergeire in a press briefing.
“Best pa din to hold virtual parties for this Christmas. Alam ko pangalawang pasko na ito na nagkaroon ng difference ang ating pagse-celebrate ng pasko. Pero sana (It is still best to hold virtual parties for this Christmas. I know this is the second time that we are celebrating it differently. But hopefully) we can do these kinds of sacrifices so we can prevent further infections in the community, in our population,” she added.
Vergeire said if the public wants to conduct in-person celebrations, they should strictly adhere to the minimum public health standards.
“I advise to require that only fully vaccinated will attend the parties, that you will be holding this in an open space, and that everybody will be wearing their face mask, and practice physical distancing, and please do not serve buffet dishes,” she said.
Amid the threat of the Omicron variant, Vergeire expressed hope that COVID-19 cases in the Philippines will continue to decline.
“With the threat of the Omicron variant we are not really certain, I will be very honest, hindi natin alam (we don’t know). Pero base sa estado ngayon natin at sa mga projetions na meron tayo, patuloy na bababa ang mga kaso hanggang Dec. 30 (But based on our current state and the projections we have, the number of cases will continue to decrease until Dec. 30)---here in the NCR as well as in the whole Philippines,” she said.
“So projection (is) patuloy na bababa ang mga kaso until the end of the year. Pero kailangan patuloy ang pagcomply sa minimum public health standards, at pagbakuna para masustain ang nagagawang pagbaba ng kaso sa ating bansa (The projection is that the number of cases will continue to decrease until the end of the year. But we must continue to comply with the minimum public health standards, and continue vaccination to sustain the decline in cases in our country),” she added.