MANILA — Despite the observed slight increase in COVID-19 infections, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday it does not see the need to reimpose mask mandates.

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Speaking to ABS-CBN News, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said that after three years of continuous mask wearing, Filipinos have generally become aware as to when and where they should don their masks.

“Nakakatuwa na 'yung mga nakatatanda, nagma-mask. Wala kang masyadong nakikita na inuubo o sinisipon moving about or kung meron man, tinitignan siya na parang sinasabing ‘huy mag mask ka naman’. 'Yung behavior na ‘yun is actually more important than mandatory masking,” he said.

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As of January 8, the DOH logged an additional 502 infections to its tally.

“Tumaas siya ng 10 percent compared to last week. But that is not a source of concern for us kasi ‘yung increases by 10 percent, it’s a far cry from what we saw before.”

Despite maintaining a manageable COVID-19 situation for the Philippines, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to caution and remind the world that the disease “is still circulating, changing, and killing.”

Latest data from the WHO show that virus has killed almost 10,000 in December.

“Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable death is not acceptable,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus.

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Ghebreyesus added that based on data from multiple sources, the increase in transmission was driven by gatherings during the holidays as well as by the JN.1 variant, which is now the most commonly-reported variant globally.

Because of this, the DOH reminds that public, especially the elderly and immunocompromised, to maintain a high level of caution especially when in areas where physical distancing and proper ventilation is uncertain.

“Alam natin na mababa ang transmission, ang fatality mababa rin. Pero alam din natin na ‘yung vulnerable populations, like ‘yung very young, very old, and ‘yung mga may comorbidities especially ‘yung mga immunocompromised - sila yung binabantayan,” Domingo said.