DOH on Philippines loosening social distancing protocols: That’s the direction

The Philippines will eventually loosen its COVID-19 protocols on social distancing in the same way that the United States through its Center for Disease Control and Prevention has already done.

“That’s the direction,” DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said when asked at a press briefing if the country would do the same.

In its updated guidelines, the US CDC only recommended avoiding crowded areas or to keep a distance from others. It previously recommended six-feet distance between individuals.

Vergeire said the Department of Health had already started to shift its focus when it modified its COVID-19 bulletins, which previously stressed the number of cases.

"We wanted to shift the mindset of our citizens that we are here to live with the virus. Because we know that the virus will stay," Vergeire said.

What's important, Vergeire said, is to protect the most vulnerable, keep the health care system from getting overwhelmed, and to prevent as much as possible severe and critical cases, and deaths.

Vergeire earlier said that the country remained at low risk for COVID-19 despite the slight nationwide increase in admissions to intensive care units. —NB, GMA News