Mayors see ‘no need’ for now to put Metro Manila under COVID Alert Level 4

FILE PHOTO: In this photo taken in Quezon City in February this year, Zumba sessions were already allowed but were later banned again due to a COVID-19 case surge caused by the Delta variant of the coronavirus. INQUIRER/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila mayors deem it not necessary for now to place the nation’s capital region under the more restrictive COVID-19 Alert Level 4 despite rising coronavirus cases.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benhur Abalos revealed this Monday, citing the local chief executives’ agreement to maintain Aert Level  3 over the National Capital Region.

According to Abalos, this matter was discussed during the meeting of the Metro Manila Council (MMC) on Friday, January 7.

“Ang kasunduan ng mga mayor is [in] the meantime, we will maintain Alert Level 3. They will continuously monitor kung anong mangyayari dito sa HCUR (hospital care utilization rate) at kung kinakailangang dalhin sa Alert Level 4 at any time, papasok namin,”he  said in a press briefing.

(The agreement of the mayors is that we will maintain Alert Level 3 in the meantime. They will continuously monitor the developments with the HCUR and if we need to bring this to Alert Level 4, we will push for that.)

“But [in] the meantime, the mayors see no need to escalate to Alert Level 4,” he added.

Abalos noted that nearly 100 percent of people in Metro Manila were already vaccinated against COVID-19. He also noted that the region’s HCUR is at around 51 percent, which falls under Alert Level 3.

“Sa ngayon dun pa lang tayo sa Alert Level 3 kung gagamitin natin ang matrix ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases),” he pointed out.

(Right now, we’re still under Alert Level 3 if we follow the matrix of the IATF.)

Earlier on Monday, acting Palace spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Metro Manila has not met the parameters for it to be placed under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 despite the increasing coronavirus cases in the region.

Nograles likewise said that the government is monitoring the two-week growth rate (TWGR), average daily attack rate (ADAR), and total bed utilization to assess if the alert level in Metro Manila should be heightened.

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