New alert level pronouncements may be declared Sunday afternoon —DILG exec

The new alert level classification for the country may be revealed on Sunday afternoon to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 transmission, said Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III.

According to Densing, the average daily attack rate (ADAR) in Metro Manila is 56 cases for every 100,000 in population, which is still high.

He explained that if this further improves, Metro Manila's classification will be decreased to Alert Level 2.

"As of last night siguro kung lalabas na 'yung ADAR, nag-improve, maaaring mag-de-escalate ang NCR from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2," Densing said over Super Radyo dzBB on Sunday morning.

(As of last night, maybe if the ADAR improves, NCR's alert level may be deescalated from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2.)

But he said it is up to Malacañang to give the final announcement.

"Hintayin natin sa Office of [Presidential] Spokesperson. Baka after lunch ia-announce na po 'yan (Let's wait for the Office of the Spokesperson. Maybe after lunch they'll announce it)," Densing said.

Metro Manila and several other areas are under Alert Level 3 until January 31.

Under Alert Level 3, several establishments will be allowed to operate at 30% indoor venue capacity but exclusively for fully vaccinated people, and 50% outdoor venue capacity as long as employees are fully vaccinated.

In-person classes, contact sports, fun fairs/perya, and casinos are among the activities and establishments that are prohibited under Alert Level 3.

Meanwhile, the OCTA Research group on Sunday said the coronavirus reproduction number in the National Capital Region has further dropped to 0.47, meaning the transmission is slowing down. The reproduction number refers to the number of people infected by one case

On Sunday, the Philippines' total coronavirus disease infections reached 3,528,796 with 53,871 total fatalities and 3,261,338 total recoveries. —KG, GMA News