Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año is pushing for the implementation of Alert Level 1 nationwide in a bid to boost the country’s economy.
“Yes, 'yun ang ating adhikain d'yan. Dapat buong Pilipinas under Alert Level 1 para talagang halos ang ating restriction na lang ay minimum public health standards at ang iba't ibang bayan ay umunlad at mag-take off na (Yes, that is what I am striving for. The whole country should be under Alert Level 1 so that almost all of our restrictions are limited only to the minimum public health standards and various localities will progress and take off),’’ Año said.
Año noted that the government had made adjustments on the requirements to place an area under Alert Level 1 like the required vaccination rate of A2 population from the previous 80 percent to the current 70 percent.
Senior citizens, or those 60 years old and above, are classified in the A2 bracket based on the vaccination priority against Covid-19.
He added that municipalities can now also be placed under Alert Level 1 based on the healthcare utilization rate of their province.
On April 1, Presidential Deputy spokesperson Kristian Ablan said the administration is eyeing the shift to “new normal” before President Duterte’s term ends in June.
Earlier Año believed that Metro Manila and many other areas will be placed under Alert Level 1 until June after these locations were downshifted to the most relaxed health restriction against the pandemic from April 1 to 15.
The DILG chief reasoned out that this is due to the steady decline in the Covid-19 active cases in the country but at the same time warned the people never to be complacent emphasizing them to still strictly adhere to the minimum public health standards.
Comparing the data from March 21 to 27 to the previous week, Año pointed to the 24 percent decline of Covid-19 active cases, describing this as good numbers that he hopes will place the whole country under Alert Level 1. (Chito A. Chavez)