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Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal will be placed under Alert Level 3 from January 5 to January 15, 2022 due to the sharp increase of COVID-19 cases
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The country is again deemed as “high risk” for COVID-19 following a continued increase in infections
The provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal will be placed under Alert Level 3 from January 5 to January 15, 2022 due to the sharp increase of COVID-19 cases in particular localities.
The escalation of alert level status from the earlier announced Alert Level 2 was approved on January 3by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) upon the recommendation of the Sub-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics.
Earlier, Metro Manila was also placed under Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 15 amidst the increase in daily COVID-19 cases and the detection of local transmission of the omicron variant.
The Department of Health (DOH) on January 3 said the country is again deemed as “high risk” for COVID-19 following a continued increase in infections.
“Nationally, we are now at high-risk case classification from low-risk case classification in the previous week, showing a positive two-week growth rate of 222% and moderate risk average daily attack rate of 1.07 cases for every 100,000 individuals,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
As of January 3, DOH recorded 4,084 new COVID-19 cases, with the positivity rate hitting 20.7%. DOH earlier also confirmed detection of local transmission of the omicron variant.
Areas under Alert Level 3 are areas wherein case counts are high and/or increasing, with increasing total bed utilization and intensive care unit utilization rates.
Under Alert Level 3, intrazonal and interzonal movement will be allowed and reasonable restrictions may be imposed by the local government units, which should not be stricter as those prescribed under higher alert levels.
Those below 18 years of age and those belonging to the vulnerable population will be allowed access to obtain essential goods and services, or for work in permitted industries and offices in accordance with existing labor laws, rules, and regulations.
Establishments and/or activities characterized as high-risk for transmission will not be allowed to operate, or be undertaken in areas classified under Alert Level 3.
The rest of the country, meanwhile, will remain under Alert Level 2 from January 1 to 15, 2022.
The alert level system refers to the new community quarantine classifications for dealing with COVID-19, and covers entire cities, municipalities and/or regions with the aim to manage and minimize the risk of disease transmission through the use of system indicators, triggers, and thresholds determined by the IATF.
