MANILA – Western Visayas will be shifting to a new quarantine alert level system beginning Nov. 1.
The policy shift was recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) and approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday.
“The drop in coronavirus disease cases and the improvement of the healthcare utilization rate (in Western Visayas) were the reasons for the expansion of the ALS (alert level system) there,” Roque said.
Under IATF-MEID’s Resolution 146-A, beginning Nov. 1 until Nov. 14, Bacolod City will be under Alert Level 4 while Iloilo City under Alert Level 3.
Those under Alert Level 2, on the other hand, are the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Antique, Aklan, Capiz and Guimaras.
Under Alert Level 4, indoor dine-in services and fitness studios and gyms may operate at 10 percent venue capacity while outdoor dine-in services and fitness studios and gyms may operate at 30 percent venue capacity.
Indoor dine-in services and fitness studios and gyms in areas under Alert Level 3 may operate at 30 percent venue capacity while outdoor dine-in services and fitness studios and gyms at 50 percent venue capacity.
Under Alert Level 2, indoor dine-in services and fitness studios and gyms may operate at 50 percent venue capacity while such services done outdoors at 70 percent venue capacity.
On-site capacities will only be allowed for fully vaccinated individuals, while take-out and delivery in restaurants will be allowed in all alert levels.
“Inu-unti natin ang pagbaba ng alert levels para ‘di naman biglang sumipa uli ang kaso ng COVID,” said Roque.
Earlier, the Palace official said the removal of community quarantines is possible as the country “accelerates its mass vaccination program” and with “fewer” vaccinated Filipinos getting hospitalized or dying from severe COVID.
But Roque urged Western Visayans to keep observing the necessary health protocols as the coronavirus remains a threat to the country.
The ALS per area would be determined by the Department of Health based on the number of COVID-19 cases in that particular area.
The ALS has been implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR) since last month and was expanded outside Metro Manila in the middle of October.
According to IATF-MEID, the pilot run in NCR turned out “positive”, noting the drop in coronavirus cases in areas there.
The region had been following the large-scale community quarantine encompassing provinces, cities and municipalities since March 2020.
As of Oct. 29, Western Visayas had 10,435 active COVID cases out of the total 142,409./PN
