President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. convened Health officials on Monday to discuss the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the Alert Levels System.
The President's meeting with the Department of Health (DOH) officials came as the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has yet to decide on the new risk level classification for the rest of the month.
The DOH officials present during the meeting were the officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, Assistant Secretary Charade Mercado-Grande of the DOH – Health Regulation Team, and Director Alethea de Guzman of the DOH – Bureau of Epidemiology.
Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Secretary Maria Zenaida Angping was also in the meeting based on a video uploaded by Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) on Monday evening, July 18.
Malacañang has yet to release information about what transpired during the meeting.
On Saturday, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said Marcos would meet Vergeire to discuss the Alert Levels System after the IATF failed to declare the new status on July 15.
She added that the IATF would meet on July 15 and while the body is yet to announce the new risk level classifications, the previous alert level status that expired on Friday would remain in effect.
"The status quo holds for our alert levels, which the IATF will be reviewing on Monday (July 18)," Angeles told reporters in a text message on July 16.
Despite the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the IATF, under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, placed many areas in the country under Alert Level 1, including Metro Manila, from July 1 to 15.
Alert Level 1 is the least strict of all risk level classifications in the Alert Levels System.
Meanwhile, Angeles said the work of the IATF will continue under the Marcos administration.
"The IATF will continue to monitor the status of the pandemic," she said.