Metro Manila, 60 Areas Under Alert 1 Until April 30

Metro Manila and 60 other areas in the country will remain under the most lenient COVID-19 Alert Level 1 until the end of the month, Malacañang announced on Wednesday, April 13.

Aside from the National Capital Region, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) also placed the following areas under Alert Level 1 from April 16 to 30, according to Presidential Communications Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar.

For Luzon: Abra, Apayao, Baguio City, Mountain Province and Kalinga, all located in the Cordilleras; Dagupan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan in Ilocos Region; Batanes, Cagayan, Santiago City, Isabela and Quirino in Cagayan Valley; Angeles City, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Olongapo City, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales in Central Luzon; Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Lucena City and Rizal in Calabarzon; Marinduque, Puerto Princesa City, Romblon and Oriental Mindoro in Mimaropa, and Catanduanes, Naga and Albay in Bicol.

In the Visayas, areas under Alert Level 1 are Aklan, Bacolod, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo City, all located in Western Visayas; Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Siquijor in Central Visayas, and Biliran, Eastern Samar, Ormoc City, Southern Leyte and Tacloban in Eastern Visayas.

Areas under Alert Level 1 in Mindanao include Zamboanga City in Zamboanga peninsula; Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Camiguin, Iligan City and Misamis Oriental, all located in Northern Mindanao; Davao City, and Butuan and Surigao del Sur, both in Caraga region.

Meanwhile, the following component cities and municipalities were also placed under Alert Level 1 from April 16 to 30: Aritao and Nueva Vizcaya in Cagayan Valley; Basud and Camarines Norte in Bicol; Anini-y in Antique, New Lucena and Tubungan in Iloilo; and Victorias in Negros Occidental, all in Western Visayas; Sevilla in Bohol Central Visayas; Sapang Dalaga in Misamis Occidental in Northern Mindanao and Tantangan in South Cotabato located in Soccsksargen.

Andanar said the following provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cities will be under Alert Level 2 from April 16 to 30 without prejudice to their respective component cities and municipalities which may otherwise be classified herein: Benguet and Ifugao in the Cordilleras; Nueva Vizcaya in Ilocos Region; Quezon province in Calabarzon; Occidental Mindoro and Palawan in Mimaropa; Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Masbate and Sorsogon in Bicol; Antique, Negros Occidental and Iloilo in Western Visayas; Bohol, Cebu and Negros Oriental in Central Visayas; Leyte, Northern Samar and Western Samar in Eastern Visayas; Isabela, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay in Zamboanga peninsula; Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental in Northern Mindanao; Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro and Davao Occidental in Davao Region; General Santos City, North Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato Soccskasargen; Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte in Caraga, and Basilan, Cotabato City, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-tawi in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Malacañang said 887 or 54 percent of the 1,634 cities and municipalities in the country are under Alert Level 1.

Under this classification, movement of persons, regardless of age and comorbidities, is allowed, but with restrictions on 3Cs or crowded and closed spaces and close contact settings.

Full on-site capacity in private establishments and government agencies is allowed, subject to minimum public health standards.

President Duterte earlier said Alert Level 1 should remain “until we are very sure that everything is really alright.”

“Everyone wants to return to zero or one. That cannot be done because there are areas that still have cases. Until such time that there are only one or two cases all over the country, Alert Level 1 would still be good, it is like our buffer,” he said.

10-point policy

Meanwhile, the IATF adopted a 10-point policy that aims to sustain economic recovery from the pandemic as it ordered state agencies to ensure that all programs are consistent with its principles.

The decision is contained in IATF Resolution 166, issued last Tuesday in line with Executive Order 166 signed by President Duterte last month.

Duterte’s executive order approved the policy agenda, which outlines measures that seek to strengthen health care capacity, reopen the economy and prepare the country for future pandemics.

“In this regard, all government agencies are directed to ensure all related policies, measures and programs are aligned with the 10-point policy agenda. Local government units are likewise enjoined to adopt the same policies, measures and programs,” the IATF resolution read.

The National Economic and Development Authority was tasked to ensure, monitor and report on the compliance of government agencies with the policy agenda.

The 10 principles of the economic recovery policy agenda aim to strengthen health care capacity, accelerate and expand the vaccination program, further reopen the economy and expand public transport capacity, resume face-to-face classes, reduce restrictions on domestic travel and standardize local governments’ requirements, relax requirements for international travel, ac-celerate digital transformation through legislative measures, provide for enhanced and flexible emergency measures through legislation, shift the focus of decision-making and government reporting to more useful and empowering metrics and medium-term protection for pandemic resilience.

The IATF also adopted the recommendation of its data analytics sub-technical working group for workplaces to continue reporting COVID cases to their respective local epidemiology and surveillance units pending the completion of the pilot implementation of the sentinel surveillance systems.

Meanwhile, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora expressed support for the retention of Metro Manila under Alert Leval 1 from April 16 to 30.

Zamora said the number of the city’s active COVID cases remains low.

He said life in San Juan has gone back to normal, although he reminded residents to continue observing basic health protocols like wearing of face masks.

“High vaccination and booster rates and continued adherence to all minimum public health standards are keys to keeping us safe from COVID-19,” Zamora said. – With Alexis Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano