MANILA — Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said Monday he would recommend to Malacañang lifting the country's public health emergency status on COVID-19.

The World Health Organization declared in May that COVID-19 no longer constituted a global health emergency.

• COVID no longer a global health emergency: WHO

Herbosa said COVID-19 would just be one of the diseases to be monitored like influenza, cough, and colds.

However, the alert level system should stay, he added.

"Actually, wala nang emergency, 'di ba?... I think I will ask the lifting of the public health emergency in the country," Herbosa told reporters.

"The alert level system will stay kasi it’s the system like the typhoon signal that stays. But actually hindi na siya public health emergency. Wala nang public health emergency. It’s just one of the diseases being monitored just like influenza, cough, colds, etcetera," he added.

• No need to adjust PH's health status on COVID-19: Marcos Jr.

The WHO first declared the so-called public health emergency of international concern over the respiratory disease on Jan. 30, 2020.

That was just weeks after the mysterious new viral disease was first detected in China, and when fewer than 100 cases and no deaths had been reported outside that country.

In March 2020, then President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 922, which declared a state of public health emergency in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.

As of June 25 this year, the country has 8,244 active COVID-19 cases, the DOH's COVID-19 Tracker showed.

Of some 4.16 million infections logged since the start of the pandemic, 66,482 led to death.

RELATED VIDEO

Watch more News on iWantTFC