MANILA – Malacañang announced on Monday night that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the guidelines for the pilot imposition of granular lockdowns and alert levels in Metro Manila.
The new classification framework will begin on September 16, according to Presidential Spokeswoman Harry Roque, who is also the IATF-EID spokesperson.
“In this new classification framework, we proactively advocate the Principles of 3C’s (Closed, Crowded and Close Contact) Strategy, which shall be applied in Metro Manila starting September 16, 2021,” he said in a press statement.
He stated that a delicate balance between health and the economy is essential.
“We should strive for total health and this can only be realized by carefully balancing our Covid-19 response by considering both the health of our people and the economic health of the nation, which this policy shift is all about,” he added.
The new community quarantine categories will have five Alert Levels under the new guidelines, which will determine the activities permitted in cities and/or municipalities.
These include:
* Alert Level 1 – refers to areas wherein case transmission is low and decreasing, total bed utilization rate, and intensive care unit utilization rate is low.
* Alert Level 2 – refers to areas wherein case transmission is low and decreasing, healthcare utilization is low, or case counts are low but increasing, or case counts are low and decreasing but total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate is increasing.
*Alert Level 3 – refers to areas wherein case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate at increasing utilization.
* Alert Level 4 – refers to areas wherein case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate are high.
*Alert Level 5 – refers to areas wherein case counts are alarming, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate at critical level.
The Department of Health (DOH) shall identify the Alert Level of the pilot area that “shall follow the protocols consistent with the declared Alert Level”.
“Areas placed under Alert Level 5 shall observe the guidelines applicable to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) as provided for under the IATF Omnibus Guidelines on the implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, as amended,” the new guidelines stated.
The IATF issued a resolution on September 3, stating that under the new classification framework, which focuses on the implementation of granular lockdown measures, community quarantine shall be reduced to either ECQ or general community quarantine (GCQ) “with the latter having an alert level system (Alert Level 1 to 4) with each alert level limiting restrictions only to identified high-risk activities”.
Authority to implement granular lockdown
City and municipal mayors will have the power to enforce granular lockdowns on their constituent barangays, subject to the approval of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF), as well as individual residences where one household member has been confirmed.
Based on the new guidelines, granular lockdown or a micro-level quarantine for areas selected by the local government unit (LGU) as “critical zones” may be proclaimed “regardless of Alert Level”.
Granular lockdowns must be in effect for at least 14 days.
The proclamation of Granular lockdown must be provisionally effective immediately and must include due notice to the RIATF.
The IATF’s authority to impose and/or lift lockdowns on highly urbanized and independent component cities remains unchanged.
Local government units (LGUs) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) must also provide support to households in areas under granular lockdown.
The Philippine National Police must maintain peace and order at all times, according to the pilot test regulations, and security protocols must be followed in lockdown areas.
Only health care workers and non-health personnel working in hospitals, laboratories, and dialysis facilities “if their institutions are unable to provide accommodation”, as well as uniformed personnel responsible with enforcing the granular lockdown, will be permitted to move within, into, and out of the area during the lockdown period.
