Palace adviser sees PH ‘ready to move out’ from alert levels by March or April

Presidential adviser for entreprenuership, Secretary Joey Concepcion. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Secretary Joey Concepcion is seeing that the Philippines will be ready to live without the COVID-19 alert level system by March or April.

Concepcion on Monday said that they will meet with the private sector to develop a COVID-19 exit plan.

“We will craft a plan on how each sector can develop their exit plan. The idea eventually is to reach a point wherein there are no more alert levels, we develop a standard protocol,” Concepcion said during the Laging Handa briefing.

“So, I think we will eventually get there. I think by March, sometime that period, palagay ko [I think] April, I think we will be ready to move out from alert levels ‘no,” he said.

The government has been implementing the COVID-19 alert level system since September 2021. Alert Level 1 is the most lenient while Alert Level 5 is the most stringent.

It was first piloted in Metro Manila in a bid to protect the people while aiming to spur the country’s economy from the pandemic’s impact.

Under the system, granular lockdowns would be imposed in select areas with high COVID-19 infections and not the whole community.

The country on Sunday registered 16,953 new COVID-19 cases, driving the overall caseload to 3,545,680.

JPV