MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reminded the public that despite the looming shift of Metro Manila and 38 other areas to the lowest COVID-19 alert level, the pandemic continues to rage.

In a televised briefing, DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said the alert level system will remain in place, making it possible for escalation should metrics show the need for a higher alert level.

With the slow transition to the new normal, the health official explained that it is looking at shifting the way it would monitor the pandemic.

"Tinitignan natin na kung magtutuloy-tuloy na milder form ang nagiging sakit sa bansa at mundo, at nang ishi-shift ang pag fo-focus from the numbers to the utilization ng ating mga facilities specifically for severe and critical cases,” she said.

“Pag tumataas ang kaso, mas nakafocus tayo sa severe and critical at kung paano mapupuno ang mga facilities and that would be the signal for us to escalate to a higher level.”

Despite the country’s ICU and bed utilization rate falling below 30%, Vergeire said COVID-19 has yet to be declared endemic.

"Ang ibig sabihin ng endemic state kasama ang virus sa buhay, ngunit acceptable na ang mga numero ng mga kaso. Acceptable na rin for society na itong pagtaas o pagkakaroon ng pagkamatay ay acceptable sa atin,” she said.

The Philippines will eventually reach this phase especially since vaccination is an ongoing endeavor, Vergeire said.

In Metro Manila, government has targeted 11.3 million residents to be inoculated. The number of fully-vaccinated individuals in the region has reached 11.5 million.

Almost 85% of senior citizens and 96% of people with comorbidities in NCR have been inoculated.

Vergeire said there are still a lot of people who have yet to be fully vaccinated or receive booster shots. But this does not necessarily equate to people regarding the vaccines less, according to her.

“Kelangan siguro suyurin ang mga komunidad sa NCR para makita pa 'yung iba na maaring hindi nakakalabas ng bahay para bakunahan.”

She reminded the public that sustaining Alert Level 1 and living with a sense of normalcy now rests in the hands of the public, with self-regulation deemed important more than ever.

Under the alert status, paper-based contact tracing will no longer be required for agencies and establishments while mobile-based applications like StaySafe will be optional.

Latest figures from the DOH on Monday showed this year's lowest new COVID-19 infection daily tally at 951 cases. The country’s total has reached over 3.6 million.

• Philippines posts 951 new COVID-19 cases, lowest so far this year

Despite lower testing outputs, the positivity rate for the country has fallen to 5%, the benchmark set by the World Health Organization which indicates that infections are controlled.

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