People play in a reopened amusement park in Pasay City, the Philippines, Feb. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Pandemic restrictions in Metro Manila will be eased further to the lowest level starting on March 1 as COVID-19 infections drop and hospitalization rate declines in the capital region.
MANILA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Pandemic restrictions in Metro Manila will be eased further to the lowest level starting on March 1 as COVID-19 infections drop and hospitalization rate declines in the capital region, Philippine Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Sunday.
Nograles said the inter-agency coronavirus task force approved downgrading the COVID-19 alert level in Metro Manila and 38 other areas under alert level 1 from March 1 to 15.
Alert level 1, the lowest on a scale of 5, covers areas with low and decreasing COVID-19 cases and transmissions, low hospital bed utilization rate, and intensive care unit utilization rate.
A mother and her daughter wearing masks are seen in a reopened amusement park in Pasay City, the Philippines, Feb. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Presidential adviser on COVID-19 response Vivencio Dizon earlier said alert level 1 "signals the return to the robust and healthy growth of the economy that will create jobs, bring back investments and normalize the operation of many industries and the tourism sector."
The Philippines' Department of Health reported 1,038 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,661,049. At least 56,401 Filipinos have died from the highly transmissible disease.
The Philippines has seen four COVID-19 waves since the pandemic began in 2020.■
