Laguna may be placed under Alert Level 3 — Duque

The government is eyeing to place the province of Laguna under Alert Level 3 due to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.

“I was just told earlier by the [Department of Health] Epidemiology Bureau that Laguna might also have to be placed under Alert Level 3,” Duque said during the Go Negosyo town hall meeting.

For his part, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said more areas in Central Luzon and Calabarzon may be placed under Alert Level 3.

Interviewed on CNN Philippines, Año said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases will look into these areas and some “key cities.”

“We are looking at the other areas of Region 4A and Region 3 kasi malapit na talaga sila sa National Capital Region and probably some key cities also,” he said.

According to him, the IATF checks on the trend of COVID-19 cases when escalating the alert level in a concerned area.

On Tuesday, Malacañang announced that the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal will be placed under Alert Level 3 starting January 5 to 15, 2022.

The government earlier placed the National Capital Region under Alert Level 3 from January 3 to January 15.

Under Alert Level 3, several establishments will be allowed to operate at 30% indoor venue capacity only for fully vaccinated individuals and 50% outdoor venue capacity, provided that all employees are fully vaccinated.

Face-to-face classes, contact sports, funfairs/perya, and casinos are among the activities and establishments that are prohibited under Alert Level 3.

Work at government offices is limited to 60% of their onsite capacity.

On Tuesday, the Philippines logged 5,434 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total tally to 2,861,119.

Of the 5,434 fresh cases, the Department of Health said 5,395 (99%) occurred within the last 14 days from December 22, 2021  to January 4, 2022. The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were Metro Manila with 3,826 or 71%, Calabarzon with 864 or 16% and Central Luzon with 333 or 6%.

The Philippines' positivity rate climbed to 26.2% from January 3's positivity rate of 20.7%. — with Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA News