As the country continues to face a surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, the government's pandemic task force has decided to keep the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 3 until the end of the month.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the announcement a day before Metro Manila's supposed last day under Alert Level 3 on Jan. 15.
In his press briefing on Friday, Jan. 14, Nograles said that the following areas will also be placed under Alert Level 3 from Jan. 16 to 31, 2022 aside from Metro Manila:
- Baguio City
- Ifugao
- Mountain Province
- Dagupan City
- Ilocos Sur
- City of Santiago
- Cagayan
- Angeles City
- Aurora
- Bataan
- Bulacan
- Olongapo City
- Pampanga
- Zambales
- Rizal
- Batangas
- Cavite
- Laguna
- Lucena City
- Marinduque
- Romblon
- Camarines Norte
- Catanduanes
- Naga City
- Sorsogon
- Iloilo City
- Iloilo
- Negros Occidental
- Guimaras
- Lapu-Lapu City
- Bohol
- Cebu
- Negros Oriental
- Ormoc City
- Biliran
- Eastern Samar
- Leyte
- Northern Samar
- Southern Leyte
- Western Samar
- City of Isabela
- Zamboanga City
- Zamboanga Del Sur
- Bukidnon
- Iligan City
- Misamis Occidental
- Misamis Oriental
- Davao Del Sur
- Davao Del Norte
- General Santos City
- South Cotabato
- Surigao Del Sur
- Agusan Del Norte
- Lanao Del Sur
Alert Level 3 will also be hoisted in the following areas from Jan. 14 until the end of the month:
- Benguet
- Kalinga
- Abra
- La Union
- Ilocos Norte
- Pangasinan
- Nueva Vizcaya
- Isabela
- Quirino
- Nueva Ecija
- Tarlac
- Quezon Province
- Occidental Mindoro
- Oriental Mindoro
- Camarines Sur
- Albay
- Bacolod City
- Aklan
- Capiz
- Antique
- Cebu City
- Mandaue City
- Tacloban City
- Cagayan de Oro City
- Davao City
- Butuan City
- Agusan Del Sur
- Cotabato City
Meanwhile, the following areas will be under Alert Level 2 from Jan. 16 to 31, 2022:
- Apayao
- Batanes
- Palawan
- Puerto Princesa City
- Masbate
- Siquijor
- Zamboanga Del Norte
- Zamboanga Sibugay
- Camiguin
- Lanao Del Norte
- Davao De Oro
- Davao Occidental
- Davao Oriental
- North Cotabato
- Sarangani
- Sultan Kudarat
- Dinagat Islands
- Surigao Del Norte
- Basialan
- Maguindanao
- Sulu
- Tawi-Tawi
The Philippines logged a new single-day record of 34,021 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 13, 2022, bringing the total number of infections to 3,092,409. A positivity rate of 47.9 percent has been pegged in the country.
In his press briefing, Nograles acknowledged that while Omicron is a more contagious variant of COVID-19, the number of severe and critical cases wasn't high due to the country's vaccination program and the public's cooperation with the COVID response efforts.