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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider DTI seeks gradual downgrade to Alert Level 1

DTI seeks gradual downgrade to Alert Level 1

Published Feb 9, 2022 05:06 pm

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) backed the calls to downgrade gradually the quarantine status of the country to Alert Level 1 because the threat of the virus still lingers.

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In a radio interview Wednesday, Feb. 9, DTI Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said this amid proposals to further downgrade to Alert Level 1 as early as March 1.

The decision to downgrade to Level will depend on the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, but, Castelo stressed that the recommendation of the economic group is to reopen gradually.

Nonetheless, she said that shifting to Alert Level 1, which is the lowest in the alert level system, would mean more businesses to operate at full capacity and more people can be employed.

Alert Level 1, capacities of establishments that are now operating at 50 percent will be raised to 100 percent, thereby increasing people’s mobility.

This also means that all of the 1.5 million establishments in the country — 1 million of which are micro, small and medium enterprises — will all be operating at 100 percent.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said the country needs to de-escalate from crisis mode to recovery mode as this will enable them to engage in economic activity like going to shops, dining out, traveling or going back to work,

Concepcion said under the lower alert level, all establishments should be allowed to operate but that there will be agreed-upon minimum health protocols that should be implemented. “Areas with a high vaccination rate, can implement a no-alert level status,” he said.

Moving to Alert Level 1, he said, will already have a big effect on how the country recovers from hereon. The move to Alert Level 1 will also give the country an opportunity to see how well it will manage by relying only on maintaining prescribed public health safety protocols.

The Philippines on Tuesday reported 3,574 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the total tally to 3,619,633.

The new infections brought the active cases to 105,550, the lowest since January 8.

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