President Duterte cautioned the public not to be complacent and to continue observing the government’s minimum public health standards despite the low Covid-19 infection rate in the country.
Duterte said this after learning that the country has less than 4,000 active coronavirus cases.
In his "Talk to the People" on Thursday, the President asked the public to continue observing frequent handwashing, physical distancing, and mask-wearing.
“We still have to follow the minimum requirements to avoid recontamination kung natamaan ka na (if you already caught it before) because there is --- it can infect you again and again,” he pointed out.
“Pero yung requirement ng gobyerno sa mask sa tao nakatulong talaga ‘yan because it can really prevent itong ano, ‘yung surge. Nakatulong talaga itong masks basta you wear it properly (The government's requirement to wear a mask helps because it can prevent the surge as long as you wear it properly,” he added.
During the same meeting, Health Undersecretary Dr. Abdullah Dumama, who was also present in the meeting, said the Department of Health (DOH) is doing strict surveillance to monitor any possible entry of emerging coronavirus disease variants in the country and prevent a surge.
According to Dumama, the entire health department is prepared to address any uptick in cases of emerging Covid-19 variants.
He also appealed to Filipinos to get vaccinated and get their booster shots to enhance the population’s immunity to the said respiratory disease.
Meanwhile, President Duterte thanked the medical and scientific community and the frontliners for remarkably fighting Covid-19 alongside his administration.
“The Philippines was able to manage the deadly coronavirus disease largely due to the combined efforts of the country’s doctors, scientists, and other frontliners,” he said.
“I likewise thank the Filipino people for continuing to cooperate with the health authorities and for following health protocols. Pasalamat sa lahat, lahat na (I thank all) who participated in the fight against Covid,” he added.
The DOH recorded 109 new COVID-19 cases on May 11, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 3,687,428 with 3,623,661 recoveries, 60,439 deaths, and 3,328 active cases.