by Willem James Banaynal III

Metro Manila will remain under Alert Level 3 from November 1 to 14, as announced by presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday, October 29.

While under this classification, nine areas in Metro Manila are being “closely monitored” by the Department of Health (DOH) as the aforementioned areas registered a positive seven-day growth rate in COVID-19 cases last Thursday, October 28, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire. 

DOH, however, did not specify these nine areas.

The government also approved the expansion of the Alert Level System to three more regions in the country, with these being Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.

Baguio City will also be classified with an Alert Level as an area under “special monitoring.”

The Alert Level classifications for various areas in the country are as follows:

Alert Level 2: Angeles City, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Olongapo City, Pampanga, Tarlac, Batangas, Quezon province, Lucena City, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Cebu province, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Camiguin, Iligan City, Misamis Occidental and Oriental, and Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental.

Alert Level 3: Metro Manila, Baguio City, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Iloilo City, Siquijor, Lanao del Norte, Davao City and Davao del Norte

Alert Level 4: Aurora, Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Davao Occidental.

Other areas in the country not under the Alert Level System will have an assigned quarantine classification.

Mountain Province, Catanduanes, and Zamboanga City will be under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from November 1 to 15, while Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, City of Santiago, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions for the whole month of November.

Additional 3,410 COVID-19 cases were recorded last October 31, bringing a total number 2,787,276, cases in the country—45,233 (1.6%) of which are active cases. 

Meanwhile, the Philippines will begin its nationwide rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations among minors aged 12 to 17 starting November 3, according to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. last Wednesday, October 27.

Galvez then explained that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be still used during the nationwide rollout, with guidelines for such also being drafted.

The Philippines received 2,098,980 fresh Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses on October 31, donated by the United States. 

Along with this, over 2.6 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses also arrived last October 30, with a portion of such coming from the global COVAX facility, and the other from Japan.

As of October 30, 31,862,067 individuals already had their first dose, and 27,272,169 are fully vaccinated.

This corresponds to 25.01% of the Philippine population being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

For more detailed updates and information regarding COVID-19, you may visit https://doh.gov.ph/2019-nCoV or https://www.who.int/.

References:

CNN Philippines Staff. (2021, October 30). Over 2.6M donated AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots arrive in PH. CNN Philippines. Retrieved from https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/30/AstraZeneca-vaccine-arrivals-October-30.html

CNN Philippines Staff. (2021, October 31). PH gets over 2M fresh Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses. CNN Philippines. Retrieved from https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/31/PH-gets-over-2M-fresh-Pfizer-vaccine-doses.html?fbclid=lwAR2

CNN Philippines Staff. (2021, October 31). PH records 3,410 new cases, 128 more deaths. CNN Philippines. Retrieved from https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/31/PH-new-covid-cases-october-31.html 

de Villa, K., & Salaverria, L. (2021, October 30). Metro stays at Level 3; COVID attack rate still posing moderate risk. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1508279/metro-stays-at-level-3-covid-attack-rate-still-posing-moderate-risk

Flores, H. (2021, October 30). Alert Level 3 In NCR Extended to Nov. 14; System Expanded To 3 More Regions. OneNews PH. Retrieved from https://www.onenews.ph/articles/alert-level-3-in-ncr-extended-to-nov-14-system-expanded-to-3-more-regions

Magsambol, B. (2021, October 27). Philippines begins nationwide COVID-19 vaccination for minors aged 12-17 early November. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/philippines-begins-nationwide-covid-19-vaccination-minors-aged-12-17-november-5-2021

Perez-Rubio, B. (2021, November 1). 1 in 4 Filipinos fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Philippine Star. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/11/01/2138242/1-4-filipinos-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-19 

Sadongdong, M. (2021, October 31). Hits and misses: PH’s COVID-19 vaccination program in October. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved from https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/31/hits-and-misses-phs-covid-19-vaccination-program-in-october/