President Rodrigo R. Duterte is again thankful following the continued decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country but reminded the public to continue adhering to health protocols.

“Salamat sa awa ng Diyos bumaba ang mga kaso (Thank God cases are declining). But we still follow health protocols being implemented by government if we really want to make headway,” he said in a pre-recorded public address aired late Tuesday night.

He, however, said God’s mercy needed to be coupled with observance of health protocols since it was the only way to beat the deadly virus.

“Ganun ‘yan, ang awa ng Diyos kailangan sabayan mo ng pagsunod ng implementasyon sa protocols ng gobyerno kasi ang Diyos tingnan niya kung walang pagsunod ng protocols ng gobyerno, alisin niya yung awa at maging kawawa tayo (That’s how it works, God’s mercy should be accompanied with following the government protocols because if God sees that people don’t follow protocols, he will remove mercy and we will be pitiful),” he added.

Duterte welcomed reports of a general decline in active Covid-19 cases, especially in Metro Manila.

“The [Department of Health] has reported a continuous decline in the number of active cases in the country. From more than 23,000 last Nov. 18 to only less than 19,000 today. Our tally of new Covid-19 cases on Nov. 18 was almost 1,300. But today, we only had 1,153 cases,” he said.

As of Tuesday, the DOH recorded 1,153 new Covid-19 cases bringing the nationwide tally to 2,827,820.

Health authorities said active Covid-19 cases fell to 18,721 or 0.7 percent of the total.

Of these cases, 55.2 percent are mild, 4.7 percent are asymptomatic, 20.51 percent are moderate, 13.8 percent are severe, and 5.8 percent are in critical condition.

“We are slowly but surely making progress in our Covid-19 campaign. I am very pleased to inform the entire nation that we continue to beat Covid-19. Recent statistics affirm this,” he added.

He said he is also pleased to know that more Covid-19 vaccine doses continue to arrive in the country.

“As of today, the country has already received 134.4 million Covid-19 doses from various manufacturers. As of today, 76.5 million vaccine doses have been administered throughout the country…Of this number, more than 33.5 million are given a second dose and single-dose shots,” he said. (PNA)