MANILA – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Tuesday that the National Capital Region (NCR) will be placed under Alert Level 4 when the implementation of granular lockdowns with alert levels in the region begins on September 16.
“Alert level 4 ang ipapatupad sa NCR (Alert Level 4 will be implemented in the NCR),” Año said in an interview with the morning show “Unang Hirit”.
Under Alert Level 4, individuals aged below 18 and above 65, people with immunodeficiencies, comorbidities, or other health hazards, and pregnant women are prohibited from leaving their houses except for acquiring essential products and services and to work in permitted industries and offices.
Indoor visitor or tourist attractions, libraries, archives, museums, galleries, and cultural shows and exhibits; indoor venues for meetings, incentives, conferences, events (MICE); indoor entertainment venues such as cinemas, and venues with live performers such as karaoke bars, bars, clubs, concert halls, and theaters; outdoor and indoor amusement parks or theme parks, funfairs/peryas, kid amusement industries such as playgrounds, playroom, and kiddie rides; indoor recreational venues such as internet cafes, billiard halls, amusement arcades, bowling alleys, and similar venues and staycations are also not allowed to operate under Alert Level 4.
Outdoor or alfresco dine-in services in restaurants and eateries are permitted to operate at 30% capacity, regardless of customers’ vaccination status while indoor dine-in services may be allowed at 10% capacity, only for fully vaccinated people.
Outdoor personal care services, such as barbershops, hair spas, nail spas, and beauty salons, are allowed to operate at 30% capacity regardless of customer vaccination status, however indoor services are only allowed to operate at 10% capacity for fully vaccinated individuals.
Regardless of vaccination status, outdoor religious services are permitted at a capacity of 30%. Indoor religious meetings, on the other hand, may be permitted with a 10% venue or seating capacity limit and only for fully vaccinated participants.
For those who died of causes other than coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), gatherings for necrological services, wakes, inurnment, and funerals will be limited to immediate family members.
With the adoption of work-from-home and other flexible work arrangement initiatives, government offices will stay fully operational with at least 20% on-site capacity.
No surprises
Meanwhile, Año emphasized that the implementation of the granular lockdown will not come as a surprise because the local government units (LGUs) have long specified the regions that will be subject to this restriction.
“Ang LGU or LCE (local chief executive) ang may authority to declare granular lockdown so actually, diskarte na niya kung paano niya bigyan ng warning (The LGU or the LCE have the authority to declare a granular lockdown so it is up to them how they want to give those areas that will be placed in granular lockdown a warning),” he added.
The LGU and its communities, according to Año, are well aware of the areas that can be put under this restriction. To avoid further spread, areas under granular lockdown must remain under this restriction for two weeks.
This will be accomplished through intensive testing, contract tracing, and segregating positive, especially asymptomatic cases, as well as detecting and isolating their close contacts for 14 days.
In locations under granular lockdown, only healthcare workers and returning and departing overseas Filipino workers will be recognized as Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR).
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar has directed police officers in Metro Manila to assist in the dissemination of information on the new quarantine alert level system guidelines and to develop plans for strategic personnel deployment in coordination with local governments.
“With the release of the guidelines of the quarantine alert level system, I have instructed our police commanders in Metro Manila to study carefully and continue to coordinate with the LGUs for strategic deployment and enforcement for their proper implementation,” Eleazar said in a statement.
This, he explained, is to avoid ambiguity in the enforcement of the rules, which can lead to unnecessary conflicts and confrontations with the public.
“Aktibong makikibahagi ang inyong PNP sa enforcement at information dissemination sa guidelines na ito, na ang ibig sabihin din ay kailangang sumunod din ang kapulisan sa mga alituntuning ito (Your PNP will actively participate in the enforcement and information dissemination of these guidelines, which also means that the police must also adhere to these guidelines),” Eleazar said.
Eleazar stressed the significance of observing maximum tolerance and enforcing what is just mentioned in the guidelines, emphasizing that offenders should never be punished.
Meanwhile, he urged the public to cooperate and obey the government’s guidelines.
The new quarantine classifications that will be piloted in Metro Manila will have five Alert Levels which will determine the activities allowed in cities and/or municipalities, according to the new guidelines released by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Monday night.
