City Health Office Officer-in-Charge Dr. Marjorie Culas said on Monday that the city is not included in the areas placed under Alert Level 2 by the recently issued Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 6-C dated April 14. The resolution defines the Alert Level of some areas from April 16-30, 2023.
“Kung i-go over gyud to nimo nga advisory Davao City is still Alert level 1, wala man pud ta nag Alert Level zero, so maintain lang gihapon ta Alert level 1, (If you would go over the advisory Davao City is still under Alert Level I, we did not declare Alert Level Zero, so we maintain our status under Alert Level 1),” Culas said.
She said that the Department of Health already issued a clarification about the recently issued IATF Resolution.
“Ang ingon pod sa Department of Health kadtong nag Alert Level 2, bale Alert Level 2 pa gihapon sila bale wala sila nag-ubos o wala pud sila nga alert level 1 to Alert Level 2 same lang gihapon to sila (The Department of Health said that those under Alert Level 2 are those previously on Alert Level 2, meaning their alert level did not change between levels 1 and 2, so it is still the same),” Culas said.
She said the advisory of DOH further states that 26 provinces and cities under Alert Level 2 were not upgraded from Alert Level 1, rather, these have maintained their Alert Level 2 status since June 2022.
“While these areas have reached low risk classifications for cases and utilization rates, these have vaccination rates lower than 70% of the target total and population and/or 70% of the total A2 population (senior citizens). Meeting these targets will allow these areas to be de-escalated to Alert Level 1. Also, no province or city has been escalated to Alert Level 2 from Alert Level 1 since January 2023,” the DOH advisory read.
The same advisory states that the Alert Level System (ALS) continues to guide every Filipino, so that each may equip themselves with better layers of protection against COVID-19.
Culas reiterated that under Alert Level 1, intrazonal and interzonal travels shall be allowed without regard to age and comorbidities; all establishments, persons, or activities, are allowed to operate, work, or be undertaken on full on-site or venue/seating capacity provided that it is consistent with the minimum public health standards. CIO
