The government has placed 21 more areas under Alert Level 1 amid the continuing decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar announced Friday.
Andanar said Mountain Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Southern Leyte in Region 8, and Misamis Oriental in Region 10 would be under Alert Level 1 from April 9 to 15.
Other areas placed under Alert Level 1 are: Buguias in Benguet; Atimonan and Tiaong in Quezon; Santa Magdalena in Sorsogon and City of Masbate in Masbate; Batad and Zarraga in Iloilo; City of Talisay in Cebu; Javier (Bugho) and La Paz in Leyte; Maslog in Easter Samar; Paranas (Wright) in Samar (Western Samar); Linamon in Lanao del Norte; Calamba in Misamis Occidental; Padada in Davao del Sur; Sibagat in Agusan del Sur and Tubajon and Cagdianao in Dinagat Islands.
Meanwhile, the independent OCTA Research Group said the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in the Philippines might hit 4,000 by May 9 under a scenario of waning immunity and the entry of new variants.
The number of new COVID-19 cases might reach 1,000 in Metro Manila during the same period, OCTA also said.
Based on the country’s experience, OCTA said a COVID-19 surge occurred every three months due to the new variants in the country.
“We have seen an uptick in some regions in the Philippines, especially those in low vaccine coverage that is why it is important that we continue the vaccine coverage and then the vaccinations and inoculation of booster shots,” OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said.
Vaccine Expert Panel Chair Dr. Nina Gloriani, on the other hand, said the country needed an immunity wall more than herd immunity to address the possible spread of new COVID-19 variants.
“Right now because of these variants, what we are looking at is everyone’s immunity wall. Earlier, we were talking about 80 percent, now we want it more than 90 percent to 95 percent,” Gloriani said.
For his part, Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, proposed mobility restrictions for people who have yet to get their booster shots against COVID-19.
Concepcion also proposed incentives for individuals who have gotten their booster shots.