The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) plans to impose as a requirement that a certain percentage of all establishments that fall under the so-called 3 Cs – confined spaces, close contact and crowded places – in an area should have the Safety Seal before the alert level status is lowered to 1.
Originally conceived to give establishments an additional 10-percentage points capacity in strict quarantines, it will become a requirement for 3Cs establishments under Alert Level 1.
The Seal is issued by various government departments depending on the nature of the business.
This is in addition to a requirement that areas in Alert Level 1 should reach a 70 percent vaccination rate for both A2 (senior citizens) andA3 (with co-morbidities).
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez on Saturday said while he supports clamor for easing further the rrestrictions in the National Capital Region to fully reopen all sectors, “it is not simple to go down to Level 1.”
Lopez added as it is on Level 2, businesses are able to open at much higher capacities with some in restaurants and fast food business regaining 80 percent of their pre-pandemic sales.
“All of us are for reopening now that we are managing the health issues , with the high vaccinate rate and the new medicines (for new coronavirus disease 2019) That increases confidence . But we leave it at that for now… the situation is good where we are now,” Lopez said.
He added the numbers – COVID cases, reproduction rate, the hospital capacities etc. – will determine if (NCR) is ready for Alert Level 1.
The Safety Seal, he said, is an assurance to consumers an establishment follows health protocols and has a digital contact tracing app.
