Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (INQUIRER / file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Wednesday that Metro Manila may be under COVID-19 Alert Level 1 by March, subject to the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Currently, Metro Manila is under Alert Level 2 until February 28.
“My personal assessment, yes, kaya na (we can). Again, this is subject to IATF deliberations and ultimately, it is not my decision, it is the decision collectively of the IATF,” Duque said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net when asked if Metro Manila could be under Alert Level 1.
He said that the IATF will meet on Thursday to discuss the next alert level.
“Well, the IATF will meet on this tomorrow, so wala pa (no decision yet so far),” Duque, also the task force’s chairman, said.
He noted that they will study Metro Manila’s risk classification, healthcare utilization rate, positivity rate, and vaccination rate of senior citizens.
Independent analytics group OCTA Research earlier said that Metro Manila’s positivity rate dropped to 4.9 percent, within the benchmark of the World Health Organization.
The group added that 16 out of the capital region’s 17 local government units are already low risk for COVID-19.
Metro Manila mayors convened late Tuesday and recommended downgrading the capital region to Alert Level 1.
IATF co-chair Karlo Nograles on Tuesday said that they will announce the alert levels for March by weekend.
On February 22, the country recorded 1,019 new COVID-19 infections, raising the overall case count to 3,654,284.