“Nagusap-usap po ang mga mayors sa council at nagbigay po ng assessment kung ano po ang kanilang mga nais o sentimyento kung sakaling magkaroon ng Alert Level [0]. Karamihan po ay nagsasabi na nakahanda na po sila sapagkat patuloy naman ang pagbaba ng mga kaso nitong mga huling linggo,” MMDA General Manager Frisco San Juan, Jr. told a public briefing.
[Translation: The mayors had a discussion earlier and they gave their assessments on the possibility of an Alert Level 0. Most of them said that they were ready because the cases are declining in the past weeks.]
Metro Manila and 38 other areas are under Alert Level 1 from March 1-15. It is the first time for the capital region to be placed under the lowest alert level status since the five-step COVID-19 alert level system was first implemented in September last year.
The government has yet to announce the new alert level status for the rest of the month.
Although the capital region is ready to relax pandemic restrictions, the only concern among the mayors is a possible spike in infections
“Sabi nila nakahanda sila sa pagsasagawa ng mga karamptang solusyon kung sakaling magkaroon ng pagtaas muli ng number of cases […] Binabantayan lang po talaga ay kung tataas pang muli ang number of cases,” he added.
[Translation: They said that they are ready to give appropriate solutions if ever the number of cases increase. But they are on the lookout for a spike in cases.]
For its part, the Department of Health said NCR is ready to downgrade further.
“I think they will be ready to go to Alert Level 0. Pero kailangan parin ituloy-ituloy yung ating pagkamit ng mataas na coverage ng booster shot sa NCR (But we still need to continue inoculate more with booster in NCR),” said DOH Usec. Myrna Cabotaje in the same briefing.
As of Monday, the country has a total of 3,671,293 COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, Metro Manila has the highest number of infections with 1,167,400 infections.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) — Metro Manila mayors are ready to recommend a further de-escalation of restrictions in the region as the COVID-19 situation in the country improves, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said on Tuesday.
