The Department of Health (DOH) said it will recommend to the next administration to retain the Covid-19 alert level system amid the continued threat of the viral disease.
"If we are talking about removing the Alert Level System, mukhang hanggang sa susunod na administrasyon ay irerekomenda po ng Department of Health itong ating Alert Level System (it looks like until the next administration, the Department of Health will recommend the Alert Level System)," said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Saturday, June 4.
"Dahil ito po ang nagbibigay sa atin ng safeguard at nagbibigay sa atin ng guide para alam natin kung ano po ang magiging aksiyon natin base po sa risk level ng mga areas sa ating bansa (This serves as a safeguard and a guide so that we will know what action to take based on the risk level of the areas in our country)," she added.
Vergeire said that some areas are still under Alert Level 2 as they still need to consider their vaccination coverage.
"Mayroon pa kasi tayong mga areas na nasa Alert Level 2 pa po at ang ating goal sana ay magkaroon ng Alert Level 1 lahat ng ating mga areas bago matapos ang term ng ating Presidente (We still have areas that are still under Alert Level 2 and our goal is to place all areas under Alert Level 1 before the end of our President's term)," she said.
"Pero sa ngayon medyo nahihirapan tayo because of the vaccination coverage of these areas kaya po hindi po sila ma-deescalate to Alert Level 1 (Right now, we are having a hard time because of the vaccination coverage of these areas. That is why we cannot deescalate them yet to Alert Level 1)," she added.
President Duterte will end his term on June 30. Former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will succeed Duterte after the former won the country's presidential election last month.