Philippines to remain under Alert Level 2 until January 15

FILE PHOTO: Parents accompanying their children scheduled to be inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), queue during the vaccine rollout for children with comorbidities, in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines, October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will remain under Alert Level 2 until January 15, Malacañang announced Thursday.

Alert Level 2 is the second most-relaxed alert level in the government’s five-tiered COVID-19 alert level system.

Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said the government’s pandemic policy-making body, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, approved the recommendation to retain all provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities under Alert Level 2 from January 1-15.

The stay in the country’s alert level status comes despite the recent uptick of COVID-19 cases, especially in its capital region Metro Manila.

Independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research said Metro Manila is now at moderate risk for COVID-19 transmission as the region’s reproduction number and key coronavirus figures increased in the recent week.

Nograles earlier admitted that Malacañang, and even President Rodrigo Duterte himself, is getting “concerned” and “worried” about the rising number of new coronavirus infections.

He urged local government units to strictly enforce health protocols and implement granular lockdowns in areas posting an increase in COVID-19 cases.

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