Not yet time to lift alert level system amid pandemic, says Palace

The alert level system being implemented nationwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be scrapped yet pending significant COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the regions, Malacañang said Wednesday.

"Hindi pa panahon para tanggalin yung alert level system kasi sa NCR (National Capital Region), yes mataas ang vaccination [rate], but we still have to ramp up vaccination in other regions," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in an ANC interview.

(It is not yet time to do away with alert level system just yet because while NCR has high vaccination rate, we still have to ramp up vaccination in other regions.)

Presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion earlier proposed the scapping of the alert level system given that major cities already have high vaccination rate, with NCR — the epicenter of the pandemic — even exceeding 100%. 

"Hopefully, the mutations will go the way of Omicron which is less fatal even if it is more transmissible," Nograles said.

"But we cannot remove the alert level system [yet] so that even if we are already under Alert Level 1 and restrictions in terms of indoor and outdoor capacity are lifted and there are new variants of concern, we can quickly escalate to Alert Level 2," he added.

Nograles said that Alert Level 1 will only be considered once the COVID-19 vaccination rate in senior citizens and those with co-morbidities are already at 70%.

Metro Manila is under  Alert Level 2 — the second lowest in the new alert level system — until February 15. Under this alert level, certain establishments and activities are allowed at 50% capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults (and minors, even if unvaccinated), and 70% capacity outdoors.

Also under Alert Level 2, the implementation of the " no vaccination, no ride" policy barring unvaccinated people in Metro Manila from boarding public transport will be suspended.

"We do not deescalate until every 15 days so tingnan natin by February 16 if NCR can transition to Alert Level 1. We did consider this last year before Omicron happened," Nograles said.

"It’s a little bit of a wait and see but we are hopeful and experts are being careful," he added.

Deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, for his part, said the transition plan to lifting the alert level system should be ready by the end of the month.

"We are confident that the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded will continue to decrease, and the steps we have recently made are headed in that direction," he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, referring to the lifting of the alert level system.

"We have to bring it to the level last year before Omicron when there are below 1,000 or even less than 500 COVID-19 cases per day," he added.

"Give us this month to put it together to move from a pandemic approach to an endemic approach."

Dizon said senior citizens and those with comorbidities, who are at most risk of getting COVID-19, should complete their COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible.

"We really have to convince them to take the jab because it is the only way out of this," he said. —KBK, GMA News