THE Department of Health (DoH) has disagreed with US President Joe Biden who said that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over,” as there are still continued transmission of cases and deaths across the globe.

In an interview on US television show “60 Minutes” on Sunday (Monday in Manila), Biden said that the pandemic is over despite having a problem with Covid-19 transmissions in the US.

“The pandemic is over. if you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.” the US President said.

Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire disagreed with the US president, saying no country in the world can declare the pandemic is over unless the World Health Organization (WHO) declares it is.

“They can see the different contexts, they can see the different situations of each and every country across the globe,” Vergeire said.

While the country remains “hopeful” and “positive” that people can go back to the way things were before the pandemic, she urged Filipinos to remain vigilant and not be complacent against Covid-19.

“[It is] very important for us to protect the vulnerable against severe and critical disease and deaths because of Covid-19.” Vergeire added.

She appealed to the public to get vaccinated, especially those who are yet to receive their first booster dose, as well as assess their risk whenever they go outside of their homes.

The DoH reported an increase in cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) over the past week, while the rest of Luzon and Mindanao are showing a plateau in cases while the Visayas is on a “downward trend.”

Vergeire said the increase in cases should not be blamed yet on the lifting of the mask mandate in certain settings, but on the increased mobility of persons and the resumption of face-to-face classes across the country,

She added that mobility patterns have increased in the NCR, implying that most people felt that the vaccines have given them protection against Covid-19.

Despite an increase in the number of cases, the number of deaths has gone down to an average of three fatalities per day in September, much lower than the 17 deaths per day average reported in August, with a case fatality rate of 1.6 percent.

Vergeire said the one health pass (OHP) remains an important part in the country’s border control mechanisms but recognizes the need for the improvement of the system to prevent inconvenience among returning Filipinos and foreigners.

The OHP is a website where inbound passengers will upload their pertinent data such as vaccination record or test result.

Vergeire said the OHP is important especially in contact-tracing situations.

“The different agencies are now discussing this so we can improve on this and we can see how we can further sustain this but at the same time does not cause inconvenience to our travelers,” she added.