Año: Philippines' new COVID-19 alert level will be bared Monday

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Sunday that Malacañang will announce the new alert status in the country, including the National Capital Region (NCR), on Monday, February 28.

“Tomorrow pa ang announcement. Syempre, kailangan may approval ng ating Pangulo" (We make the announcement tomorrow because the President needs to approve it)” Año said in an interview over Super Radyo dzBB.

Also, he said that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has yet to release updated guidelines for indoor and outdoor activities allowed under Alert Level 1. These will then be discussed by acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles in a Laging Handa briefing, he added.

“Meron namang draft ang ating IATF at ‘yan ay kailangang pagtibayin lang through a resolution na maaaring maganap bukas din ng Monday,” Año said.

(The IATF already has a draft guidelines that need to be firmed up through a resolution that may be released tomorrow, Monday.)

Nograles earlier said that areas will be de-escalated to Alert Level 1 upon meeting the following criteria:

• low to minimal risk case classification
• total bed utilization rate of less than 50%
• full vaccination of 70% of its target population (denominator is 80% of its total population)
• full vaccination of 80% of its Priority Group A2 (Senior Citizens) or target population (denominator is 85% of A2 population)

The Metro Manila Council said on Wednesday that NCR mayors have agreed to recommend the shifting of the region from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1 starting March 1.

On Thursday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the NCR is ready to de-escalate to Alert Level 1 with its current metrics already “ripe.”

Under Alert Level 1, intrazonal and interzonal travel shall be allowed without regard to age and comorbidities. All establishments, persons, or activities, are allowed to operate, work, or be undertaken at full on-site or venue/seating capacity provided it is consistent with minimum public health standards.

Bayanihan, Bakunahan 4

On the other hand, Año said that more volunteers are needed to ramp up the fourth wave of the national inoculation drive dubbed “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” that is slated in the second week of March.

“Sa ngayon, ang iluluto natin niyan ay ‘yung mga nitty-gritty atsaka we need volunteers, more volunteers" (what we are finalizing now are the nitty-gritty and we need more volunteers), he said.

Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) chairperson Dr. Myrna Cabotaje said on Saturday that the initial proposal for the fourth wave of the mass vaccination drive is on the week of March 7, 2022.

Priority for this initiative will be given to children and senior citizens, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

To boost the vaccination drive in the country, Año said that one of the initiatives of the government, particularly the Department of Tourism, is to bring the COVID-19 vaccines to tourist destinations, and encourage tourists to get the jab.

“‘Yan ang ating mga ginawang priorities—‘yung mga economic hubs, mga highly-urbanized cities, independent and component cities, ‘yung mga tourist hubs natin. ‘Yan ang inuna natin kasi ‘yan ‘yung importante. Diyan se-sentro ang ikot ng komersiyo at saka tourism,” he said.

(We made the economic hubs, highly urbanized cities, independent and component cities, and tourist hubs as priorities because they are where commerce and tourism are centered.)

“Makakaasa kayo na marami mga tourist spots din ang magbubukas pa sa susunod na mga araw" (You can expect that many tourist spots will also open in the next few days), he added.

Año noted that about 63 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The government is eyeing to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by the end of March, and 90 million by the time Duterte steps down from office on June 30.  —LBG, GMA News