Manila, other areas stay under COVID-19 Alert Level 1

MANILA: Metro Manila and 88 other areas nationwide, including popular tourist spots, will remain under the least restrictive coronavirus (COVID-19) Alert Level 1 with effect from May 1 to 15, Malacanang Palace announced on Friday.

The Palace said the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases approved the recommendation for placing these areas under Alert Level 1.

Officials said Level 1 is the most relaxed of the five-tier alert system, which was described as the “new normal” in dealing with the pandemic.

They said it allows, among others, the opening of more businesses, ensures more mobility by allowing the operation of more public utility vehicles and resumption of faceto-face classes.

Officials also said the imposition of Level 1 on Metro Manila and other areas arose from the continuing significant dip in daily COVID-19 infections.

Most of the areas, aside from Metro Manila, are located on the main island of Luzon.

These included popular tourist areas like Baguio City and the provinces of Kalinga, Mountain Provjnce and Apayao in the Northern Luzon highlands; provinces of La Union and Pangasinan in Norther Luzon; provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan in Central

Luzon; Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite and Quezon in Southern Luzon; as well as the provinces of Albay and Camarines Sur in the Bicol Region.

Under Level 1 in the Visayas are the provinces of Iloilo, the cities of Cebu and Lapu-lapu on the island province of Cebu, Leyte and Eastern Samar.

On the other hand, those covered by Level 1 in Mindanao are the cities of Davao, the hometown of President Duterte, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Butuan and the provinces of Camiguin and Surigao del Sur.

In a related development, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that all the 44 close contacts of the country’s first confirmed case of the highly infectious COVID Omicron subvariant BA.2.12 had tested negative of the virus.

Vergeire said the 44 individuals had close contact with a 52-year¬-old woman from Finland who tested positive for BA.1.12 during her visit to the country in early April.

“No one was found positive among all of these close contacts,” she said in a mix of Filipino and English.

But Vergeire also admited it was highly likely that there were other cases of the BA.2.12, aside from the Finnish woman.