Gov’t eyes more restriction downgrades in provinces, cities to boost the economy

THE government is aggressively working to widen vaccination coverage in many provinces and cities to ease quarantine restrictions and help revive the national economy, a presidential adviser on the pandemic said.

“What we are trying to do now, Mr. President, is we are trying to push all the other provinces and cities to really achieve these levels of vaccinations so that they can also deescalate to Alert Level 1 at the soonest possible time,” Presidential Adviser for COVID-19 Response Secretary Vivencio Dizon said during President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Talk to the People.

“Hopefully within the month of March so that they can all help the economy move forward and we can all address the economic storm that we are facing together as a country.”

And the good thing is that the Inter-Agency Task Force of the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), through the leadership of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, authorized the immediate shift to Alert Level 1 of provinces and cities hitting the required vaccination targets, according to Dizon.

Government experts will be reviewing the numbers on a daily basis moving forward, he told the President.

Following the conduct of the fourth National Vaccination Days, the presidential adviser said nine provinces and highly urbanized cities were added to the list of jurisdictions under Alert Level 1.

“Ibig sabihin po nu’n ay talaga pong umaandar na ang kanilang mga ekonomiya at marami po dito ay malalaking siyudad tulad ng Iloilo, ng Cebu, Ormoc, Tacloban, Butuan, at Lucena City,” Dizon reported.

“At nagdagdag din po tayo ng tatlong malalaking probinsiya, lalong-lalo na ang Batangas, which is a major industrial hub. At ang dalawang probinsiya sa Region III, ang Nueva Ecija at Zambales na napakaimportante naman po sa ating agricultural production at sa ating food production sa Pilipinas.”

Such downgrade is timely, Dizon said, adding it will aid the country weather the current crisis particularly with the continuous increases in fuel prices as a result of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Also during the President’s address, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that so far, 69.8 million individuals have received the first dose of COVID-19 shot.

Some 64.6 million Filipinos or 71.84 percent of the 90-million target were given two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

In terms of regional coverage, Galvez reported that seven regions have more than 70 percent fully vaccinated individuals, while the other eight regions have more than 60 percent with two doses of the jab.

Only two regions—the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Soccsksargen recorded below 60 percent of fully vaccinated persons.

The country has logged 3,915 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a 30-percent drop in the number of cases compared to last week’s 5,534, the Department of Health (DOH) said.