Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 12) — Aside from keeping a low number of COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions for a month, an area has to reach high vaccination rate before it can be placed under the lowest COVID-19 alert level, an official said on Friday.
First, the locality must remain under low risk for COVID-19 for “two incubation periods” or four weeks, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.
Next, it should have a 70% vaccination rate for senior citizens, 70% immunization coverage for people with comorbidities, and 70% of the target population must be inoculated, Vergeire also said.
Safety seal certifications will also be among the requirements, she added.
“Pinag-uusapan po ngayon ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) kung ano yung baseline o threshold na ilalagay natin para po iyong safety seal ay kasama rin sa reqs para ikaw makapag-deescalate,” Vergeire said.
[Translation: IATF is discussing what the baseline or threshold should be, so we can include the safety seal as part of our requirements for de-escalation.]
“So it is not na agad agad, magbababa tayo sa Alert Level 1,” she noted. “Mayroon po tayong safeguards and the vaccination coverage and the safety seal requirements are the safeguards.”
[Translation: So, this is not done in haste – the downgrading to Alert Level 1. We have safeguards and the vaccination coverage and the safety seal requirements are the safeguards.]
Under the Alert Level 1 guidelines as of Nov. 4, interzonal and intrazonal movement of all people is allowed, while all establishments may operate at full capacity as long as they comply with the minimum health standards.
