Areas under Alert Level 2 ‘watched’ for possible de-escalation

MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) will definitely review the Covid-19 situations and the vaccination coverage of areas placed under less restrictive Alert Level 2 for possible downgrade to the most lenient Alert Level 1 System, National Task Force (NTF) against Covid special medical adviser, Dr. Ted Herbosa, said Thursday.

Herbosa said these areas should reach a vaccination rate of above 70 percent of their target population, with 80 percent of their senior citizens and persons with comorbidities already vaccinated.

“So, rirebyuhin ng IATF, alam ko may meeting sila ngayon, rirebyuhin nila iyong mga lugar na nasa Alert Level 2 kung puwede na silang ibaba sa Alert Level 1 kagaya ng mungkahi noong Monday (So, the IATF will review this, I know they have a meeting today to review the areas under Alert Level 2, if these can be downgraded to Alert Level 1 as recommended on Monday),” Herbosa said in an interview at the Laging Handa public briefing.

Herbosa said this could be positive news “so long that the country’s Covid-19 cases will continue to go down.”

Areas under Alert Level 2 for the first half of March are:

(Luzon) Benguet, Ifugao, and Mountain Province in Cordillera Administrative Region; Nueva Vizcaya in Region 2: Nueva Ecija and Zambales in Region 3; Batangas, Lucena City, Quezon, and Rizal in Region 4-A; Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, and Palawan in Region 4-B; and Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Masbate, and Sorsogon in Region 5.

In Visayas are Antique, Iloilo City, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental in Region 6; Bohol, Cebu Province, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, and Negros Oriental in Region 7; and Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Ormoc City, Southern Leyte, Tacloban City, and Western Samar in Region 8.

In Mindanao, Region 9: City of Isabela, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay; Bukidnon, Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, and Misamis Oriental in Region 10; Davao De Oro, Davao Del Sur, Davao Del Norte, Davao Oriental, and Davao Occidental in Region 11; General Santos City, North Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat in Region 12; Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Butuan City, and Dinagat Islands in Caraga Region; and Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City, and Lanao Del Sur in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Herbosa said the country’s overall Covid-19 situation is so far so “good” amid the easing of restrictions in Metro Manila and other 38 areas.