The Department of Health (DOH) reminded the public that the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) still remains even if the country continues to see a decreasing number of new infections.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the imposition of Alert Level 1 in some areas of the country does not mean that COVID-19 is already gone.

“Tayo po ngayon ay nasa Alert Level 1. Nakikita po natin na patuloy na bumababa ang mga kaso sa ating bansa. Ngunit gusto ko lang hong ipaalala na andito pa rin po ang virus. Hindi ibig sabihin that the virus got milder, the virus is safe (We are now under Alert Level 1. We can see that the number of cases in our country continues to decline. But I just want to remind you that the virus is still here. It doesn't mean that the virus got milder or that it is safe),” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo on Thursday, March 3.

“Kailangan mag-ingat po tayong lahat (We all need to be careful). Let us try to follow and comply with the safety protocols,” she added.

Based on the latest DOH case update, 989 new people contracted the viral disease. The number of active COVID-19 cases nationwide stood at 50,458.

This was the second straight day that the Philippines recorded less than 1,000 cases. Thursday’s cases were quite higher than the cases recorded in the previous day at 866 infections.

Of the active cases, 45,510 have mild symptoms, 2,773 are moderate, 1,415 are in severe condition, 463 are asymptomatic, and 297 are in critical condition.

There were also 1,349 new recoveries and 34 deaths. These figures pushed the recovery count and death toll to 3,557,909 and 56,538, respectively.

Since the pandemic began in 2020, the Philippines has already confirmed 3,664,905 COVID-19 cases.

Vergeire said that vaccination and adherence to protocols both played a key role in bringing down the number of new COVID-19 cases.

“Mataas na po ngayon ang antas ng bakunahan sa ating bansa (The level of vaccination in our country is now high). We have reached about 70 percent of our eligible population already and that alone will protect us from severe infections and deaths. And also, nakakabawas po iyan ng transmission ng sakit kapag kayo ay bakunado (And that also reduces the transmission of the disease),” she said.

“Nakita natin na nagtulong-tulong ang lahat para mag comply sa (We have seen that everyone has worked together to comply with the) safety protocols so that we can be able to reduce the number of cases in our areas,” she added.