MANILA, Philippines — The national government is now monitoring the situation in neighboring provinces of the National Capital Region (NCR) for possible restrictions after Metro Manila was once again placed under Alert Level 3 amid the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya on Monday said that the government is “observing very closely” the situation in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan which were previously included in the so-called “NCR Plus Bubble”.
“We’re looking at the neighboring provinces of the National Capital Region because they really form an integral part of the Metro Manila area. We are looking, observing very closely the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan,” Malaya said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel when asked about other regions that may possibly be up for restrictions.
“The Department of Health is getting all the necessary data so we will get a clear picture of the situation in those areas,” he added.
Metro Manila was placed under the stricter Alert Level 3 until January 15 amid the “exponential” spike of COVID-19 cases in the region.
Independent monitoring group OCTA Research over the weekend said Metro Manila is now at high-risk for COVID-19 transmission as its positivity rate has further increased.