With the declining numbers, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion is hopeful that the country will be moving to coronavirus (COVID-19) Alert Level 1 by March.

Concepcion made the statement after the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases decided to keep Metro Manila under Alert Level 2 from February 16 to 28, 2022.

In a statement, Concepcion said welcomed the government's decision to keep the National Capital Region (NCR) in its current alert level classification until the end of the month.

He, however, remained optimistic that the current low levels of healthcare utilization and the declining average daily attack rate, or infections per 100,000 population, will continue and will eventually lead to the shifting to Alert Level 1 by March.

"Moving to Alert Level 1 will have a big effect on how we recover," he emphasized, noting that if this will happen, the country will be closer to a 6.5-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the first quarter.

The Go Negosyo founder has been pushing for the lowering of the NCR from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1 by March 1 and welcomed the possibility that this might happen earlier than expected.

Meanwhile, Concepcion remains hopeful that the government will finally consider lifting the alert levels, saying that a state of public health emergency may no longer be necessary as there are currently no variants of concern.

He added that the country has achieved a higher vaccination rate and low healthcare utilization rates.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said that indicators are pointing to an Alert Level 1 by March.

"We project that the NCR would be at, or very close to, very low risk by March, using metrics based on COVID Act Now," he said, referring to the independent data-tracking non-profit organization.

According to Concepcion, moving to the lower alert level is important if the country is to continue the gains it realized in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Philippines registered a better-than-expected 7.7 GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2021, which many are attributing to the easing of restrictions during the holiday season.

OCTA Research head Prof. Ranjit Rye had earlier said that a lower Alert Level 1 status is an opportunity for the country to sustain its fourth-quarter growth.

"Now is the time , because the science is proving that cases are going down," he said.

The IATF had earlier said that Alert Level 1 will be considered the country’s “new normal”, with minimum public health standards still in place even as business establishments are allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity.

However, business groups are calling for further easing as they find it difficult to return to pre-pandemic incomes due to the limited capacity and distancing requirements.

"Government should set agreed-upon minimum health protocols that take this into consideration," Concepcion said.

"Businesses have tried their best to adapt to the new normal and have made adjustments, but I think we should try to see how well we will manage by relying only on maintaining prescribed public health safety protocols," he added.