Life in Metro Manila inched toward normalcy Friday as the government raised the allowable operating capacity of businesses, allowed minors to go to malls, and approved limited face-to-face classes in colleges under Alert Level 2 amid the steady decline in COVID-19 cases.
Guidelines published Thursday by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) allow several services and activities under Alert Level 2.
These include:
• Intrazonal and interzonal movement or travel between areas with different alert levels. Local government units (LGUs) may impose reasonable restrictions, but these cannot be stricter than those in a higher alert level.
• Individual outdoor exercises for all ages, regardless of comorbidities or vaccination status.
The guidelines also allow venues for meetings, conferences, and exhibitions; permitted venues for social events such as parties and wedding receptions; tourist attractions such as museums, parks, and public gardens; amusement
or theme parks; recreational venues such as internet cafes, billiard halls, amusement arcades, and bowling alleys; and cinemas and movie houses to operate at 50 percent capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults and minors (even if unvaccinated), and 70 percent capacity outdoors.
Limited face-to-face or in-person classes for basic education are subject to prior approval of the Office of the President.
In-person religious gatherings; gatherings for necrological services, wakes, inurnment, and funerals for those who died of causes other than COVID-19 and for the cremains of the COVID-19 deceased are also allowed.
Dine-in services in restaurants, as well as services at personal care establishments such as barbershops, hair salons, and nail spas, will be allowed subject to sector-specific guidelines from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Fitness studios, gyms, and venues for individual non-contact exercise and sports are also allowed subject to DTI guidelines and provided that patrons and workers wear face masks at all times and that no group activities are conducted.
Film, music, and television production, and activities in videoke and karaoke bars, clubs, and concert halls will also be allowed, subject to guidelines.
Gatherings in residences with individuals not belonging to the same household are also now allowed.
Government work may operate at 50 percent of on-site capacity while applying work-from-home and other flexible work arrangements.
Casinos, horse racing, cockfighting, and the operation of cockpits, lottery and betting shops, and other gaming establishments are still not allowed under Alert level 2, except if authorized by the IATF or the Office of the President.
The Department of Health (DOH) said children can now go to the malls. Alert Level 2, which is in effect until Nov. 21, removes the limit on going to select establishments like malls based on age and vaccination status, the DOH said.
In an advisory, Ayala Malls said it is allowing the entry of individuals 18 years old below, regardless of vaccination status, in compliance with the latest government guidelines.
Power Plant Mall’s latest guidelines also indicated that customers of any age are allowed to enter the mall.
Earlier this week, the Philippines began the vaccination of all children aged 12 to 17 in an expansion of its pediatric jab coverage against COVID-19. No vaccine, however, has been approved for younger children and toddlers.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced Friday that limited in-person classes in all degree programs have been allowed for up to 50 percent capacity in areas under Alert Level 2.
CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III said the IATF gave the green light on Nov. 4 provided the schools follow these conditions:
– The students, faculty, and employees must be vaccinated;
– The local government is okay with it; and
– Their facilities have been retrofitted and inspected.
De Vera said these limited in-person classes are likely to start in areas where the vaccination rate is high such as Metro Manila universities.
"So we ask everyone to get vaccinated so that we have now other options to open our classrooms and so that we can slowly bring back our students and get them to go to their schools," he said.
More than a hundred higher education institutions were previously allowed to resume face-to-face classes for medicine and allied health sciences.
In September, President Rodrigo Duterte approved its expansion for engineering and technology, hotel and restaurant management, tourism and travel management, marine engineering, and marine transportation courses.
The Palace reminded business owners to strictly enforce the “no vaccine, no entry” policy, to prevent the surge of COVID 19 cases.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque issued the statement after the National Capital Region (NCR) was placed under alert level 2 starting Nov. 4.
“If you will accept unvaccinated customers, COVID-19 will surely spread. If it happens, we will have to escalate alert levels again and you will have to close down again,” he said.
“To the businessmen, if you want to keep your businesses running, make sure to implement the ‘No vaccine, no entry’ policy,” he said.
Meanwhile, the official also warned the public against faking vaccine cards so they can enter establishments.
“If you are using a fake vaccine card, you are putting your lives at risk,” Roque said.
He said those caught with fake vaccine cards will face jail time.
On Thursday, an infectious diseases expert cautioned people not to eat or talk in mass transport vehicles to minimize the risk of COVID-19 spread, as public transport has now been allowed to operate at 70 percent capacity.
"Wearing a face mask and at the same time not talking will decrease transmission in fact up to 95 percent," said Dr. Rontgene Solante in "24 Oras" report on Thursday.
The Philippines logged 2,376 new COVID-19 cases on Friday 2,376, bringing the total number of cases to 2,797,986.
There were 260 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 44,085.
The DOH also reported 2,109 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,716,524.
There were 37,377 active cases, of which 69 percent were mild, 5.4 percent were asymptomatic, 3.5 percent were critical, 8.2 percent were severe, and 13.94 were moderate.
The positivity rate was at 6.5 percent, based on test results of samples from 44,182 people on Nov. 3.
Nationwide, 43 percent of ICU beds, 33 percent of isolation beds, 27 percent of ward beds, and 29 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 37 percent of ICU beds, 28 percent of isolation beds, 27 percent of ward beds, and 26 percent of ventilators, were in use.
Also on Friday, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said that Christmas caroling is not banned in his city, but is not encouraged because this could be a super-spreader activity.