The Department of Health (DOH) said the Philippines and the United States use different metrics to determine Covid-19 classification.
The Philippines joined Russia and Nepal in the list of international destinations under the high travel risk category.
In a press briefing, DOH Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the people should understand that the indicators used by the US CDC to classify a country as high risk or low risk or moderate risk is different from the measures being used by the Philippines.
While the Philippines is giving more weight to the healthcare utilization rate rather than the number of new Covid cases, the US CDC, she said, is using “incidence rate triangulated with the testing data” and new cases.
“ We already have aligned with most of the countries kung saan ang pinaka of value na sa atin ngayon is to preserve our healthcare system,” she said.
Highest health notice
The “high” travel risk level is the highest health notice under the revamped system that the CDC categorizes countries for American travelers.
The CDC urged Americans traveling to the Philippines and other countries on the said list to ensure that they are fully vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus.
“If you are not up to date with your Covid-19 vaccines, avoid travel to the Philippines. Even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19,” warns the CDC.
It also urged American travelers with weakened immune system to forego or delay their travel to the Philippines.
Brazil, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey have been on the list for a while.
European countries-France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom also have been in the list for several months now.
Level 3 applies to destinations that have had over 100 cases per 100,000 people in the past 28 days.
On a plateau
On Tuesday, Vergeire said that all island groups on a plateau while severe and critical cases remain below 1,000 despite continuous observed slow upward trend.
Meanwhile, 1,011 additional BA.5 Cases detected, 907 tagged as recovered while there were 19 additional BA.4 cases detected and 15 tagged as recovered.
The DOH said that results of the latest sequencing run from August 12-15, 2022, where a total of 5,214 BA.5 and 168 BA.4 cases have been recorded in the country.