The implementation of the countrywide Alert Level System which was pilot-tested in Metro Manila to curb the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) transmission will start on Monday, Nov. 22, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III confirmed.
“Simula sa Lunes, buong bansa naka-alert level system (Beginning Monday, the whole country will be under the alert level system),’’ Densing said in a GMA News interview on saturday, Nov. 20.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the nationwide implementation of the Alert Level System with granular lockdowns in areas with high COVID-19 cases to control people’s movement in the midst of the pandemic.
In Executive Order 151, the new Alert Level System now in effect in Metro Manila, Regions 3, 4-A, 6, 7, 10 and 11 will be gradually enforced in Regions 2, 8 and 12 for Phase 2; Regions 2, 5 and 9 for Phase 3; and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Regions 4-B and 13 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for Phase 4.
Under IATF guidelines, the Alert Level systems will be imposed in the entire cities and municipalities which restricts movement in a bid to prevent the COVID-19 surge.
Each city or municipality will be classified from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 5 with the Department of Health (DOH) determining what alert level a specific area should be under.
Densing said the community quarantine COVID-19 response will be removed by Dec. and will be replaced by granular lockdowns and the Alert Level System which were proven to be more desirable.
He noted that the National Capital Region (NCR) is the only region in the country which could qualify for alert level 1 downgrading next month.
Earlier, the DOH said placing NCR to alert level 1 will be based on metrics.
In response, Densing said this is a distinct possibility since Metro Manila obtained the minimum requirement of vaccinating 70 percent of the senior citizens and persons with comorbidity population and another 70 percent of the adult population. (Chito A. Chavez)