MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila is “ready” to deescalate to a less severe Alert Level 2 if the national government decides to do so by February, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday.
The National Capital Region (NCR) has seen a decline in COVID-19 cases over the past few days and vaccination coverage is high in the metropolis, according to Duque.
“Oo, handa naman ang Metro Manila,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing when asked if the region is ready should the government decide to deescalate it to a less restrictive alert level in February.
“Maganda ang ating vaccination coverage. So, maganda ang tiwala o ang confidence na maaayos natin ‘yung pagsunod sa minimum public health standards,” Duque added.
(Our vaccination coverage is good. So there is the confidence that we can implement the minimum public health standards.)
The escalation or deescalation of alert levels, he said, is determined by the area’s two-week growth rate, average daily attack rate, and health care utilization rate.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases will meet on Thursday to discuss the alert levels placed in the country starting in February.
“Baka pag-usapan ‘yan kung pwede nang magbaba to Alert Level 2 pero (We might discuss this if we can go to Alert Level 2 but) that is not yet cast in stone because we will still need to review the metrics,” Duque said.
Metro Manila is placed under Alert Level 3 until Jan. 31.
COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila appear to have already peaked, given the declining rate of infections, Duque said.
READ: COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila already peaked, says Duque
So far, the Philippines has logged 3,417,216 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 273,580 active cases, 3,090,164 recoveries, and 53,472 deaths.
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