The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said 89 percent of the country is already under Alert Level 2 as the government rolls out the nationwide implementation of the alert level system piloted in Metro Manila.
“Starting Nov. 22, all areas under the phased implementation of the alert level system will start. For the current week, 89 percent or 108 out of the 121 provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities are under Alert Level 2 and with minimal to low risk classification,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Catanduanes remains under Alert Level 4, which Gov. Joseph Cua said was due to the high hospital occupancy rate and cases of the more transmissible Delta coronavirus variant in the province.
Twelve areas were under Alert Level 3: Apayao, Baguio City, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Siquijor, City of Isabela, Zamboanga City, Dinagat Islands and Sulu.
DOH data showed that nine areas among those in Alert Levels 3 and 4 made improvements in their case and utilization data. On the other hand, Batanes, Apayao, Baguio City, and Mountain Province remain in high and moderate risk classifications.
The metrics for Lapu-Lapu City may require escalation from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3, the DOH said.
Under Alert Level 2, indoor establishments such as malls can operate at 50 percent capacity with an additional 10 percent capacity if they have a safety seal. For outdoor establishments, 70 percent is allowed.
Under Alert Level 3, establishments, or activities, will be allowed to operate or be undertaken at a maximum of 30 percent indoor venue capacity for fully vaccinated individuals only and 50 percent outdoor venue capacity.
Under Alert Level 4 are areas with COVID-19 infections that are high or increasing while total beds and ICU beds are at high utilization rate.
Indoor dine-in services are only allowed at a limited 10 percent venue or seating capacity but will cater only to individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while outdoor or al fresco dining is allowed at a maximum of 30 percent venue or seating capacity regardless of vaccination status of customers.
Vergeire said all regions in the country are now at minimal to low risk for COVID-19, with the majority of the regions having a total COVID-19 bed and ICU utilization at low risk.
Metro Manila belongs to the low risk case classification with a “negative two-week growth rate and an average daily attack rate of 2.69 per 100,000 individuals,” which is higher than the previous 1.48.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved the nationwide implementation of the alert level system for determining restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This system limits lockdowns only to areas with high COVID-19 community transmission.
The Philippines logged 984 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 2,826,853.
This is the second lowest daily number of cases reported following the 849 infections on Nov.16.
There were 218 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 47,288.
The DOH also reported 2,229 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 2,759,767.
There were 19,798 active cases, of which 56.6 percent were mild, 4.6 percent were asymptomatic, 5.6 percent were critical, 13.3 percent were severe, and 20.02 percent were moderate.
The COVID-19 positivity rate was at 2.8 percent, based on samples of 35,901 people on Nov. 20. The positivity rate is already below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) requirement of 5 percent.
Nationwide, 32 percent of ICU beds, 27 percent of isolation beds, 17 percent of ward beds, and 18 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 31 percent of ICU beds, 24 percent of isolation beds, 23 percent of ward beds, and 20 percent of ventilators, were in use.