Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has proposed to lift the public health emergency as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified the Philippines as a low-risk country amid the pandemic.

In a statement Thursday, Concepcion said lifting the public health emergency would help the country return to normal activities that would increase mobility and capacity of businesses as the alert level system would also cease with the lifting of the public health emergency status.

“Lifting the state of public health emergency would promote confidence among the population,” he said.

Concepcion noted that the country should now focus on bringing back the jobs that were lost during the past two years, easing restrictions, resuming face-to-face classes, and encouraging people to go back to their workplaces.

“It would be just the right time as all over the world, economies are starting to resume normal activity,” he said, adding that countries like Australia, Singapore, Canada, the UK, Spain, and Italy – classified as high-risk countries by the CDC – are not under a state of public health emergency.

Although the government was able to control and manage the pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte’s adviser said the next administration should continue to invest in the health system and prepare for the next pandemic.

“This will not be our final pandemic. We should work on refining our public health warning system,” Concepcion said. (PNA)