Philippines studying COVID-19 'Alert Level 0'
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health said Thursday that the government is looking into the possibility of lowering the COVID-19 risk classification of several parts of the country to “Alert Level 0.”
The country has been tallying fewer than 1,000 cases daily for the last six days, according to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III, who expressed hope that the figure will go down to 500.
He said that Metro Manila and 38 other areas under Alert Level 1—or the “new normal”—are doing “so far, so good” even as most pandemic restrictions are scrapped.
“Malay natin baka pwede nang mag-deescalate to Alert Level 0. Pero ‘yang Alert Level 0 pag-uusapan pa ‘yan ng IATF,” Duque told state broadcaster People’s Television.
(Maybe we can deescalate to Alert Level 0. But the IATF will still discuss it.)
“Ano ba ang mga elements ng Alert Level 0? Pwede na bang magtanggal ng masks? Pwede na bang wag sumunod sa hand hygiene? ‘Yung ventilations, sufficient ba? Maraming mga tanong ang kinakailangan pang sagutin,” he added.
(What are the elements of Alert Level 0? Can we remove masks? Can we no longer practice hand hygiene? Are ventilations sufficient? There are many questions that need to be answered.)
Experts and government advisers are already studying the proposal and will give their recommendations to the IATF, Duque said.
The health chief also said the pandemic task force will discuss the possible deescalation of other parts of the country to Alert Level 1. He earlier expressed caution over the proposal to implement the lowest alert level nationwide.
The Philippines has reported more than 3.6 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with over 57,000 deaths.
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