Local government units need to vaccinate at least 80 percent of eligible senior citizens and persons with disability in their respective areas to trigger a de-escalation to the loosest COVID-19 community quarantine, Alert Level 1.
“Before deescalating to Alert Level 1, 80 percent of the eligible A2 [seniors] and A3 [people with comorbidities] population must be vaccinated. If this metric is not met, we cannot deescalate to Alert Level 1,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said late Monday evening.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said a vaccination rate of at least 70 percent of the total eligible population will also be a requirement for a shift to Alert Level 1.
Meanwhile, the country logged 1,427 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the lowest daily tally so far this year, bringing the total case count to 3,653,526, the Department of Health reported.
The positivity rate was at 7.5 percent, based on 25,000 people tested for COVID-19 on February 19.
In the City of Manila, 693 beds in the local government’s 12 quarantine facilities are unoccupied as COVID-19 cases continue to decrease, and advocates for reopening the economy said it was another sign for the government to ease pandemic restrictions at least in Metro Manila.
The independent OCTA Research Group also said COVID-19 cases were declining in nine cities in Metro Manila.
OCTA fellow Guido David said Metro Manila’s COVID growth rate slowed down to minus-33 percent from minus-38 percent on Feb. 19.
Also on Monday, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion urged the government and businesses to go full speed ahead in the reopening of all business sectors without neglecting any industries, however small they are.
He said he agrees with the Department of Finance (DOF) that much is needed to get the economy going at a 100 percent rate especially when the country has a huge debt to settle.
“We need to catch up. It will take awhile for us to pay the debt if our economy will be sluggish. That’s why we are pushing for all sectors to open up. It’s about time. I believe 2022 is the year (for recovery),” he said at the regular Pandesal Forum in Kamuning Bakery, Quezon City.
The nine cities that saw a drop in their daily tally on Sunday were: Quezon City – from 67 to 45 new cases, Parañaque – from 41 to 28, Makati – from 39 to 33, Taguig – from 26 to 22, Pasay – from 23 to 20, Las Piñas – from 29 to 18, Caloocan – from 22 to 17, Navotas – from 2 to 1, and San Juan – from 7 to 1 new case.
In the city of Manila, from 471 on Saturday and 391 on Sunday, there were only 369 active infections as of noon Monday after 32 new cases.
From 1,004 active cases on Feb. 4, the number dipped to 948 the following day and has not reached four digits in the capital since then.
Meanwhile, the six district hospitals in Manila, which allotted 494 beds to COVID-19 patients out of the total 931, reported an 8 percent occupancy rate, or 40 beds in use.
COVID-19 positive patients with severe or critical symptoms are admitted to hospitals while those with mild to moderate symptoms are isolated in quarantine facilities.
The Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital located at the Quirino Grandstand has a 6 percent occupancy rate or 19 out of 344 beds.
The DOH reported 79 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 55,763.
The DOH also reported 3,269 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,539,106.
There were 58,657 active cases, of which 760 were asymptomatic; 53,326 were mild; 2,845 were moderate; 1,422 were severe; and 304 were critical.
Nationwide, 30 percent of ICU beds, 24 percent of isolation beds, 20 percent of ward beds, and 16 percent of ventilators, are in use. In Metro Manila, 28 percent of ICU beds, 22 percent of isolation beds, 26 percent of ward beds, and 19 percent of ventilators, are in use.
In other developments:
The Palace said the Philippines will accept the COVID-19 vaccination certificates of eight more nations, after the country reopened its borders to foreign tourists last week. Nograles said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved the recognition of the national vaccination certificates of Egypt, Maldives, Palau, Albania, Estonia, Greece, Malta, and Uruguay.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said wearing a face mask is still a must, even after the government lowers the COVID-19 alert level. In an interview over TeleRadyo’s Sakto, Solante said it is now a good time to deescalate the alert level, but said the use of face masks would still be key to avoiding infections.