The Philippines is now back to low risk classification for COVID-19 infection after battling the Omicron-fueled surge last month, Malacañang said on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
In his virtual presser, acting Presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles noted the National Capital Region (NCR) and the rest of the country have returned to low risk classification for the infectious disease.
The Palace official said this was based on growth in COVID-19 cases, average daily attack rate per 100,000 population, and health systems capacity.
According to the latest data from the DOH, the country’s bed utilization was at 29 percent, mechanical ventilator utilization was at 18 percent, and ICU utilization was at 34 percent.
"All of the progress we have made to bring down the number of new cases is a product of our collective efforts. And we thank our kababayans (country) for their cooperation," he said.
Nograles, who is also the Cabinet Secretary, then urged the public to “remain conscious of our health protocols.”
All regions last December 2021 were under minimal risk for COVID-19, before the country in January this year logged record-high coronavirus infections.
The surge was largely attributed to the Omicron variant that was first detected in South Africa in November.
At one point, the Philippines logged more than 39,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day as the government was forced to re-enforce stricter measures on movement after easing quarantine restrictions during the holidays.
But by the third week of January, cases started to drop, causing the government to ease measures once more on Feb. 1.
The government’s pandemic task force has decided to keep the NCR under Alert Level 2 while it placed seven other areas under Alert Level 3 from Feb. 16 to 28, 2022.
These seven areas are Iloilo City, Davao de Oro, Iloilo Province, Guimaras, Zamboanga City, Davao Occidental, and South Cotabato.