President Bongbong Marcos will retain the state of public health emergency first declared during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In a vaccination event, Marcos said the public health emergency might stay until the end of the year.
“Yes, we were just discussing it with Usec. Vergeire because maraming mga binibigay sa international medical community kapag state of emergency. WHO,” Marcos told reporters.
RELATED STORY: US CDC classifies Philippines under ‘high risk’ category for travel due to COVID-19
“At kung itigil natin ‘yung state of emergency, matitigil ‘yun. But if we can change — we are looking at amending the law in terms of procurement and all of that in the middle of an emergency,” the chief executive added.
The state of public health emergency was declared by then president Rodrigo Duterte.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has classified the Philippines as high risk for COVID-19 in its travel advisory.
The high risk classification applies to a destination that records 100 cases per 100,000 people in the past 28 days.
READ ON: EU now recognizes COVID-19 vaccine certificates from Philippines
Under this classification, the US CDC does not recommend travel to the Philippines if a person’s vaccination is not updated.
Aside from the Philippines, Russia and Nepal were also added to the places with Level 3 or “high” risk designation for travelers from the United States.
“Make sure you’re up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines before traveling to the Philippines. If you are not up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, avoid travel to the Philippines,” the US CDC says in its website.
