MANILA, Philippines (Updated 8:42 a.m.) — All Metro Manila mayors recommended lowering the alert level status in the capital region to the most lenient Alert Level 1 starting March 1.
Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez, chairman of the Metro Manila Council (MMC), made the announcement Wednesday morning to downgrade the pandemic restrictions.
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JUST IN | Inirekomenda ng Metro Manila mayors na ibaba na sa Alert Level 1 status ang National Capital Region simula March 1, ayon kay Mayor Edwin Olivarez. pic.twitter.com/EY4bQwX9HB
— News5 (@News5PH) February 22, 2022
The MMC is composed of the National Capital Region’s 17 mayors.
This announcement came after it was determined that the capital region's COVID-19 positivity rate has decreased to below 5% for the first time since December 26.
NCR positivity rate dipped to below 5% but remained at low risk. Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal also remained at low risk while Quezon improved to very low risk. @dzbb @DZAR1026 @dzrhnews @News5PH @allangatus @ali_sotto @dwiz882 @NewsRmn @PhilstarNews @docbenjisays @DrMichaelTee pic.twitter.com/JAY1OI1MrT
— Dr. Guido David (@iamguidodavid) February 22, 2022
OCTA Research fellow Guido David said that the average daily attack rate in the region went down to 2.85 while the reproduction number was stable at 0.21 indicating very low risk.
This means that the positivity rate, which refers to the percentage of all tests that came out positive, is now within the World Health Organization's recommendation of 5% for opening economies.
At a press briefing Monday morning, acting Palace spokesperson Karlo Nograles said that experts are still studying the de-escalation of several areas down to Alert Level 1. — with report from Franco Luna.