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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Proposals for downgrading of COVID alert status in NCR, other areas out on Feb. 28

Proposals for downgrading of COVID alert status in NCR, other areas out on Feb. 28

Published Feb 25, 2022 03:23 pm

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) will announce its decision on the proposed Alert Level 1 downgrade in the National Capital Region (NCR) or in other parts of the country on Monday, Feb. 28.

This was confirmed by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday, Feb. 24 when pressed if the Alert Level 1 deescalation will start in NCR on March 1 as proposed by the Metro Manila mayors.

“Wala pang decision. Sa Monday (Feb. 28) pa ma finalize),’’ Año said in a message.

Earlier, Health Department Secretary Francisco Duque III said that Metro Manila is “ripe’’ for the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) Alert Level 1 based on the government’s metrics including its vaccination rates. He, however, clarified that the final decision whether to adopt his proposal or not lies in the hands of the IATF.

“Kung ako lang ang tatanungin, ang NCR ay pasado na sa kanilang metrics (If I were to decide, NCR has passed their metrics),’’ Duque said.

“Hinog (NCR) na in other words (It is ready in other words),’’ he added.

The Department of Health (DOH) chief emphasized that NCR’s two week growth rate is negative and its average daily attack rate (ADAR) is under the moderate risk mark based on the latest data which translates to the “low-risk classification.’’

But DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya insisted that imposing a more relaxed Alert level system needs a lot of thinking citing the extreme difficulty of enforcing the minimum public health standards (MPHS) especially with the start of the local campaign period on March 25.

“Dapat po pag isipan maiigi (downgrade to Alert Level 1). Pero kung mayors tatanungin nakahanda na sila for Alert Level 1 (We should think of it extensively. But if the mayors are to be asked, they are ready for Alert Level 1),’’ Malaya said.

On Feb. 24, the Private Hospitals Association Philippines (PHAPI) has called on the government to wait for two more weeks and monitor the trend of the COVID-19 cases before deescalating Metro Manila to Alert Level 1.

In a briefing PHAPI president Jose de Grano feared that the people probably would disregard the minimum health standards (MPHS) with the shift to the most relaxed Alert Level.

He pointed out that the hospitals group had expressed grave concern on the possibility of having another COVID-19 surge considering the ongoing election campaign period. (Chito A. Chavez)

Related Tags

francisco duque iii alert level proposal DILG IATF Eduardo Año 2 doh
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