Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez, also the chairman of the Metro Manila Council (MMC), confirmed that all Metro Manila mayors agreed to downgrade the National Capital Region (NCR) to Alert Level 1 starting March 1.
Olivarez, in a phone interview with Manila Bulletin, said the 17 mayors comprising MMC, voted for the deescalation of the NCR to Alert Level 1 during their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The recommendation will be submitted to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
He admitted that downgrading the alert status for the NCR will pose a big challenge to all Metro Manila mayors because of the opening up of businesses and industries will be at 100 percent.
Olivarez said the mayors based their recommendation on the matrix provided by the Department of Health (DOH) on the health utilization, facility rate, and the average daily attack rate (ADAR).
He added that the DOH also based its reports on data provided by the City Health Office (CHO) and the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) of every city.
Olivarez said Metro Manila was already classified as low risk since all the local government units already vaccinated about 80 percent of their target population.
The mayors recommended to continue the implementation of health protocols like the wearing of face mask and observing the physical distancing.
The Alert Level 2 status in Metro Manila will be in effect until Feb. 28.