Duterte says shift to Alert Level Zero still 'untimely'
President Duterte said it is still not the right time to further de-escalate to Alert Level Zero the current Covid-19 level status in the country.
"So ang restrictions is — you know lahat gusto halos balik na sa zero o lahat one... Hindi puwede kasi may mga lugar na mayroon pa (Almost everyone wants to downgrade to Alert Level Zero or impose Alert Level 1 for the entire country. We can't do that for now because there are areas that still have cases)," Duterte said.
In his "Talk to the People" public address aired Tuesday night, April 5, Duterte said the current imposition of Alert Level 1 is still good to contain the spread of the virus even with limited restrictions.
"Until such time na talagang almost isa, dalawa na lang all over the country, ‘yang Alert 1 would still be a good parang buffer natin (Until such time that there is only one or at least two cases all over the country, Alert Level 1 would still be our good buffer)," he explained.
"Huwag na muna tanggalin natin ‘yan (We will not remove it) until we are very sure that everything is really all right, especially sa ating lugar (in our country)," he added.
The President noted that further easing the restrictions is risky as new variants of Covid-19 are being identified in other countries.
"Mag-reinfect nang reinfect ‘yan tapos may mutant na bago. Diyan ang nagkaproblema (There may be reinfection given that there is a new mutant. We will have a problem)," Duterte said.
Meanwhile, despite the declining number of infections in the country, Duterte reminded the public to still follow public health protocols, especially the wearing of face masks which he called the "most basic and fundamental gadget" that would help us against the virus.
The government’s pandemic task force had earlier announced that it would discuss the parameters of an Alert Level Zero as the number of Covid-19 cases in the country continues to drop and critical indicators, such as healthcare utilization rate, remain in the low-risk classification.
During the same briefing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reported that the latest number of new Covid-19 cases remains low nationwide, averaging 364 only per day.
According to Duque, the country logged 2,548 new infections from March 30 to April 5—slightly lower than the 2,643 cases recorded in the previous week.