Quezon gov surprised with unchanged alert level status

Quezon Gov. Danilo Suarez INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

LUCENA CITY––Quezon Gov. Danilo Suarez has expressed surprise at the non-inclusion of the province among the areas to be placed under the most relaxed Alert Level 1 status from March 1 to 15.

“I’m expecting Alert Level 1,” Suarez said in a phone interview Monday morning. Suarez said he would clarify the alert level status of the province with the national authorities.

Suarez said he expected the present alert level status of the province to be placed under Level 1 after a dramatic decline of COVID-19 cases this month.

Suarez conceded that the province had to follow all the mandated safety protocols under whatever alert level status.

Suarez appealed to residents to continue practicing basic health protocols, like wearing face masks and keeping a one-meter distance from the next person in public places.

On Saturday, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje announced that the whole Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region and Metro Manila could be under the lowest quarantine level.

The independent analytics group OCTA Research had also classified Quezon as a “very low risk for COVID-19”.

But on Sunday, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved that Metro Manila and 38 other areas across the country will be under Alert Level 1 from March 1 to 15.

Only Laguna and Cavite were on the list of areas under the “new normal” status.

Quezon, Batangas, and Rizal provinces will remain under Alert Level 2.

From Feb. 1 to Feb. 27, Quezon recorded 777 new COVID-19 cases compared to 1,551 recoveries.

As of Feb. 27, Quezon had 56 active COVID-19 cases from 1,805 on Jan. 21. Of 41 municipalities, the towns with active virus carriers dropped to 19, with 22 localities as COVID-19-free.

Dr. Tiong Eng Roland Tan, IPHO chief, reported that as of Feb. 20, out of the target 1,729,997 residents in the province, at least 62 percent or 1,069,361 have been fully vaccinated, 111,254 had received their booster shots. Tan also disclosed that 907,934 residents had received their first dose.

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