Duterte: Alert Level 1 to remain until everything is alright

The Philippines will not deescalate to Alert Level 0 in its COVID-19 pandemic response system, until “everything is alright,” President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday.

In his weekly Talk to the People, Duterte shunned calls for the further relaxation of the country’s restrictions saying he would only allow it if coronavirus cases in the Philippines dropped to only one or two.

“You know, lahat halos gusto ibalik na sa Zero o lahat One. Di pwede kasi mayroong mga lugar na mayroon pa. Until such time na talagang almost isa o dalawa na lang all over the country,” Duterte said.

(You know, almost everyone wants to return to Zero or at least place the entire country to One but that cannot be done because some areas still have a lot of cases. It should be until such time that there are only one or two cases.)

“Alert level 1 is still a good buffer natin. Wag muna tanggalin until we're sure  everything is alright especially sa ating lugar kasi mag-reinfect nang mag reinfect tapos may mutant na bago. Dyan magkakaproblema,” he said.

(Alert Level is still a good buffer for us so let’s not remove it until we’re sure that everything is alright. We might have problems if we have reinfection along with the new mutants.)

Metro Manila and several other regions are currently under Alert Level 1 — the most relaxed among the five-tier restrictions classification in the country.

The Department of Health (DOH) previously said it is eyeing to recommend placing some areas under Alert Level 0 but stepped back after Hong Kong, China and South Korea experienced surges in coronavirus cases.—LDF, GMA News