Metro Manila will shift to a looser Alert Level 2 community quarantine starting today (Friday) until Nov. 21, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said late Thursday evening, hours after the OCTA Research Group said most areas in the country have returned to a level before the Delta variant surge.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases earlier extended the Alert Level 3 classification of Metro Manila until Nov 14, but decided to de-escalate the community quarantine level yesterday as COVID-19 cases fell below the 2,000-mark for the second straight day.
The IATF also approved a recommendation to base the alert level assignments in NCR on data that is nearest to the implementation date. The alert levels may be raised any time within the implementation period, but de-escalations can only be done at the end of the two-week assessment timeframe or every 15th and 30th of the month.
Earlier this week, the government lifted the curfew in the National Capital Region, except for minors, and allowed the increase in capacity of public utility vehicles and mass transportation systems to 70 percent.
OCTA Research fellow Guido David, in a press briefing yesterday, said Metro Manila and seven other urban areas—Davao City, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal – are now classified as "low risk" for COVID-19, while Cebu City is now considered as "very low risk.”
"This is hopeful because it means the virus is weakening. It’s weakening especially in these areas. It’s a reversal. There were still surges happening in other provinces but fortunately we’re able to contain [them and] almost all provinces are on a downward trend," David said.
"We have reversed the Delta surge already in NCR (the National Capital Region). We were back to where we were before the surge in July. And the good news is it's not just in the NCR," he added.
The decline in cases could be attributed to wide vaccine coverage, the public's adherence to minimum public health standards, and the enforcement of lockdowns, David said.
The Philippines logged 1,766 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,795,642.
There were 239 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 43,825.
The Department of Health (DOH) also reported 2,591 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 2,714,658.
There were 37,159 active cases. This is the lowest number of active cases since March 8, when 37,320 active infections were reported.
Of the active cases, 68.9 percent were mild, 5.3 percent were asymptomatic, 3.5 percent were critical, 8.2 percent were severe, and 14.11 percent were moderate.
The positivity rate was at 6.6 percent, based on test results of samples from 34,190 people on Nov. 2.
Nationwide, 43 percent of ICU beds, 34 percent of isolation beds, 28 percent of ward beds, and 28 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 37 percent of ICU beds, 28 percent of isolation beds, 28 percent of ward beds, and 28 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In the House of Representatives, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said more jobs are gradually being made available to the workforce as a result of the increased reopening of the economy following almost two years of lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The September Labor Force Survey (LFS) indicates that jobs are beginning to solidify as the wholesale and retail trade and motor vehicle-repair establishments have started to reopen, growing the number of employed persons by 353,000,” Salceda said.
He added that although unemployed persons increased by around 370,000, this was largely due to seasonal effects in agriculture, which lost around 862,000 jobs. At this stage, most rice crops for the season have already been planted and harvest season is still some months away.
The job decline in manufacturing is mildly concerning however, Salceda said. The sector lost some 343,000 jobs month-on-month when Christmas season manufacturing should begin to pick up.
“I expect the recovery in retail trade to eventually pull up manufacturing once stocks begin to be sold out,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) said it is ready to accommodate more passengers after the government has approved the increase in passenger capacity in rail public transport from the current 30 percent to 70 percent.
"By ensuring efficient operations for LRT-1, we are able to shorten headways or waiting times between trains so people will have less exposure time in their daily commute. We assure our passengers that safety remains a top priority for LRMC,” said Juan F. Alfonso, LRMC president and chief executive said.
Each LRT-1 train set will now be able to increase capacity from the current 337 to 785 passengers (Gen-1 trains); from 407 to 951 (Gen-2 trains); and from 416 to 972 (Gen-3 trains).
To ensure compliance with the train capacity limitation, LRMC will continue implementing the Passenger Limit per Platform (PLPP) scheme.
There will also be roving train marshals and security officers to enforce protocols such as wearing of face masks, face shields, and no-talking policy inside the trains. These will be supplemented by regular announcements on PA systems and signs.