Alert Level 2 not yet seen amid rise in COVID-19 cases, Año says

Raising the alert level status to 2 is not yet seen by the national government as the metrics set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) still need to be considered following the rise in COVID-19 infections in the country, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Wednesday.

In a Dobol B TV interview, Año said that discussions with the IATF should be made first before raising the alert level status of many areas, including the National Capital Region (NCR), which are under Alert Level 1 until June 15.

“Ang atin kasing metrics para pumunta sa Alert Level 2 ay ‘yung number ng cases at rate ng hospitalization natin. So medyo hindi pa naman tayo papasok diyan sa Alert Level 2. Marami pa tayong titignan na metrics,” he said.

(Our metrics to raise Alert Level 2 include the number of cases and our hospitalization rate. So we're not yet raising Alert Level 2. We still have a lot of metrics to look at.)

The Philippines logged 257 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, bringing the active tally to 3,130 from 3,097 on Monday.

The OCTA Research group expects the number of new COVID-19 cases nationwide on Wednesday to hit 450 to 500, with 250 of those coming from the NCR as its single-day positivity rate had increased to 4%.

If the COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the country, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday said it is possible for the government to raise Alert Level 2.

Areas under Alert Level 1 have low case transmission, hospital bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate.

Movement of people will be allowed except for reasonable restrictions on activities and spaces that are closed, crowded, or enable close contact.

Except for those located in areas under granular lockdowns, all establishments, persons, or activities, are allowed to operate, work, or be undertaken at full on-site or venue/seating capacity provided it follows minimum health standards.

Meanwhile, Alert Level 2 areas are those with low case transmission, health care utilization is low or case counts are low but increasing or case counts are low and decreasing but total bed and intensive care unit occupancy rate is increasing.

Movement of persons will be allowed except for reasonable restrictions. They must also be allowed to access essential goods and services or for work in permitted industries and offices. —KG, GMA News