President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he was not introducing more lenient measures nationwide as the government was certain that “everything is really alright.”
In his “Talk to the People” address, the president said he did not want people to get infected and reinfected by Covid-19.
“Ang restrictions is — you know lahat gusto halos balik na sa [Alert Level 0] o lahat [Alert Level 1]. That — hindi puwede kasi may mga lugar na mayroon pa. Until such time na talagang almost isa, dalawa na lang all over the country, ‘yang Alert 1 would still be a good — parang buffer natin,” he said.
The Department of Health earlier said the entire Philippines must be under Alert Level 1 before the government would start de-escalating areas to Alert Level 0.
“Huwag na muna natin tanggalin ‘yan until we are very sure that everything is really alright, especially sa ating lugar. Kasi mag-reinfect nang reinfect ‘yan tapos may mutant na bago, diyan ang nagkaproblema,” Duterte said.
Metro Manila, the nation’s economic capital, is under Alert Level 1 until April 15.
More than 72 percent of the country’s target population have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The government aims to fully vaccinate 100 percent of the country’s target population by June. John Ezekiel J. Hirro