THE entire country will be under Alert Level 2 starting today until December 31, Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles yesterday said.
Nograles, who is also the co-chairman of the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said this is a precautionary measure to control the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has already entered the Philippines as confirmed by the Department of Health (DOH) also yesterday.
The DOH said two travelers — a returning overseas Filipino and a Nigerian — have tested positive of the more transmissible variant of the coronavirus. The Filipino arrived from Japan, while the foreigner came from Nigeria. The two are now under isolation and are being closely monitored by the Bureau of Quarantine.
The decision to place the entire country under Alert Level 2 was made on Tuesday night, according to Nograles, adding that the guidelines for the community quarantine system has been repealed and the Alert Level System adopted nationwide.
Under Alert Level 2, the second lowest in the new alert level system, certain establishments and activities are allowed at 50 percent capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults and minors, even if unvaccinated, and 70 percent capacity outdoors.
Nograles said that while the number of COVID-19 cases in the entire country has been dropping in recent weeks, the country cannot transition yet to the more relaxed Alert Level 1 because of the Omicron threat, and because the parameters for the declaration of a lower alert level are still being finalized.
“Iyong banta ng Omicron na nakikita natin sa ibang mga lugar, mga bansa, territories and jurisdictions na may positive na Omicron lalo na ng local transmission ng Omicron, pataas nang pataas ang bilang ng COVID cases doon. At marami pa tayong hindi nalalaman tungkol sa Omicron (The danger of Omicron, as we see in other places, countries, territories and jurisdictions that have positive Omicron cases and local transmission of Omicron, showed an increasing number of COVID cases. Besides, we still do not know a lot about Omicron),” he said.
In a television interview, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH is not in favor of further easing mobility restrictions given the entry of the Omicron variant.
“We are still very hesitant to give that kind of easing of restriction into Alert Level 1 because of the threat of the Omicron variant,” said Vergeire, stressing: “So, for now, we will stay at Alert Level 2.”
“There will be restrictions and we can still prevent the spread, if ever Omicron is here already among our communities,” Vergeire also said.
