With only two days before the month ends, a new Covid-19 alert level has yet to be finalized and remains under review, Malacañang said Friday, July 29.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the government is continuously reviewing the alert level that will be implemented in the National Capital Region and other parts of the country next month.
"That would be called for on by the DOH (Department of Health) so we'll have to wait. Anyway right now it’s status quo so we'll maintain alert levels for now. But the entire process is also continuously under review so we have to wait," Angeles said during a press briefing.
Malacañang retained alert level 1 on July 19 after it failed to declare a new alert level for the second half of July. It will remain until the DOH comes up with a new classification by mid-August.
“To avoid confusion, we will retain the alert level system for now. We are, however, thinking, we are studying very closely, and we’ll come to a decision very soon as to decoupling the restrictions from the alert levels,” Marcos said on July 19.
Angeles also said Friday that they will be able to make an announcement before August 1. It is, however, still not certain whether the new alert level classification will be declared by then or alert level 1 will be retained anew.
During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), the President vowed that there will no longer be lockdowns due to Covid-19.
He then said that while there are new variants of the coronavirus being discovered at the present, the Philippines can no longer afford to go through another lockdown, so he pronounced that under his administration, there will no longer be lockdown.