Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte cited on Thursday, Jan. 13, several reasons why there is no need yet to place the National Capital Region under stricter COVID-19 Alert Level 4.
She said the high vaccination rate in the city, the manageable capacity of health facilities, and good mobilization of residents are among the favorable points to keep the current alert level in the region.
"Ako po ay isa sa mga mayor na bumoto na hindi muna ilagay sa Alert level 4 ang NCR for several reasons no. Number one, dito sa buong lungsod natin ay napakataas na ng vaccination rate (I am one of the mayors who voted not to place yet the NCR under Alert Level 4 for several reasons. Number one, our city has a high vaccination rate)," Belmonte said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo on Thursday, Jan. 13.
According to Belmonte, almost 93 percent of the city's adult population have received at least their first dose of the vaccine, and the rate of pediatric immunization is also high.
The mayor said that although the city has a high count of COVID-19 active cases, 88 percent of them are asymptomatic, 11 percent are with mild symptoms, and moderate cases are less than one percent.
She added that health care facilities are not overwhelmed as most of the patients are in home quarantine. They have also observed the scarcity of people outside.
Belmonte also said that they want to limit the repercussions or effects of the heightened alert level to the city's economy.
Meanwhile, Belmonte said that due to the rapid increase of positive cases and Omicron variant infections, the city government is conducting house-to-house lockdowns in lieu of granular lockdowns.
This prohibits members of a single household with confirmed positive cases to go outside their homes.
Belmonte said that 32,000 houses in Quezon City have been locked down.