Retired police general and senatorial candidate Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar warned of possible negative consequences in putting Metro Manila and other parts of the country under Alert Level 0, which is described as more normal health and safety situation similar to the pre=pandemic period.
Eleazar said further easing the restrictions in Metro Manila may result in a sudden resurgence of infections, similar to what happened in other countries.
"While the Covid situation in the country is improving, we should not rest our laurels and continue our efforts to further reduce the infection rate," said Eleazar.
He maintained that wearing of face masks and practicing social distancing should not be removed if the government decides to implement Alert Level 0 in the entire country.
According to proposals presented by the pandemic task forces to President Duterte, Alert Level 0 is considered as the “new normal” where almost if not all restrictions are removed.
"This should be carefully studied. We don't want another upsurge of cases because it will certainly affect what we have gained so far in terms of reviving our economy," said Eleazar.
Eleazar, who served as the Joint Task Force commander before he was appointed as Chief PNP, said the government should ensure that its goal of vaccinating 90 million Filipinos should be attained first before they entertain the idea of easing the restrictions to Alert Level 0.
So far, about 64 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a little more than half of the total 110 million population.
Out of the number, only around 11 million people have received their booster shots as the government admitted that the vaccination rate for booster doses remains very low.