Are we there yet? It seems that we are on the road journeying toward the new normal. With low cases of COVID-19, an efficient vaccination drive that has now reached minors, and backed up by data showing decreasing projections, some parts of the country, such as the National Capital Region (NCR), are marching toward Alert Level 1 come March.

Cabinet Secretary and acting Presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles has relayed the government’s readiness to allow the country to shift to the new normal. This is, according to him, based on three metrics, namely: growth in cases, average daily attack rate per 100,000 population, and the health system’s capacity. The Department of Health (DOH) supported these claims, noting the country’s steady decline in new COVID-19 cases on a week-to-week basis.

With these developments, Presidential Adviser on COVID-19 Response Secretary Vince Dizon has suggested that a “new normal roadmap” should be crafted that would be presented for the approval of the President and the IATF. This roadmap, Dizon said, will “signal our move toward some semblance of normalcy after these very difficult two years when we had to deal with the pandemic.” On the other hand, Nograles said that this roadmap, or the National Action Plan Phase 5 (NAP 5), is still being finalized, but part of it includes additional conditions before any area can deescalate to Alert Level 1. The NAP 5’s ultimate goal is economic recovery and safety of all citizens.

Based on current guidelines, before any area could be placed under Alert Level 1, it should: first, have a total bed utilization of less than 49 percent; second, a zero or decreasing two-week growth rate; and last, have an average daily attack rate of below one.

As economic recovery is primordial, Alert Level 1 is the most ideal situation as there are no restrictions in terms of indoor and outdoor capacities. This is good news not only for businesses in retail, food, or merchandising, but especially for the tourism and hospitality industries.

For the past two years, hotels and resorts, travel agencies and tour operators, have suffered tremendously. Alert Level 1, which allows everyone to undertake intrazonal and interzonal travel, is a “sigh of relief” — and gives businessmen and investors who had believed in the country’s tourism potential another chance to survive, and even thrive in the new normal.

This call for more “openness” is not a call to drop all precautions. As health experts have said, it is not yet time to discard health protocols, especially the wearing of face masks. Other countries may have forgotten about these practices, but it is better to be safe for now.

Government officials, such as Nograles and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, also agree, saying that “there are no plans or discussions among government officials on whether to drop the mandatory use of face masks even as the government plans the transition to a new normal.” So, are we there yet? Yes, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, but the reality is, we are still inside this dark tunnel called the pandemic.

Ditching the use of face masks or forgetting about physical distancing are dangerous steps that must not be part of any roadmap to recovery. What we need now is a clear and concise recovery roadmap; clear enough for people from all walks of life to understand, and concise enough to be communicated easily to reach the oldest citizen in a barangay to the youngest member of a household.