The Department of Health (DoH) on Wednesday, 15 June, opposed the proposal to lift the Covid-19 calamity status in the Philippines.,In a media briefing, Health Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said it is “not the right time to lift the state of calamity due to operational implications, and also our current state that we are monitoring a slight uptick in cases.”,She also pointed out the current immunity against the virus of the vaccinated population is already “waning.”,The Philippines is currently under a state of calamity due to Covid-19 until September.,Vergeire’s statement came after Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said the government should lift the state of public health emergency following the decision of the US Centers for Disease Control and 1Prevention to place the Philippines under the lowest travel risk classification.,Vergeire stressed the importance of the state of calamity, which was initially declared by President Rodrigo Duterte in the early phase of the pandemic.,However, Vergeite also noted it will ultimately be President-elect Bongbong Marcos who can change or maintain the calamity status after his inauguration on 30 June.,In the same briefing, Vergeire warned of the possible increase in severe and critical Covid-19 cases by August.,“Based on their projections, which includes criteria like reduction of the public to the minimum public health standards, booster uptake, and emergence of new Omicron subvariants, we will have an increase in hospital admission by as much as 4,800 plus cases,” she said.,“This is much more than the projected hospitalization than what we experienced during the [surge] by the Delta variant,” she added.,But the projection is “not cast in stone,” and can still be prevented by taking booster shots.