Philippines: From March 1, Manila region under lowest COVID alert level
Capacity limits for most businesses to be removed from Tuesday
Manila: The Philippines will further ease movement restrictions and remove capacity limits on most businesses in the capital region as daily coronavirus infections stay low.
Metro Manila, which accounts for a third of economic output, will shift to the lowest alert level from March 1 to 15, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a statement Sunday.
Under Alert Level 1
Under Alert Level 1, businesses including restaurants and gyms can operate at full capacity. The restrictions are reviewed every two weeks.
While COVID-19 cases are rising in most of Southeast Asia, infections in the Philippines are at a fraction of record-high numbers seen in mid-January. President Rodrigo Duterte's government is moving to an endemic approach to the virus, including opening borders to some foreign tourists from this month.
The reopening comes even as more than 40% of its population isn't fully inoculated, trailing the region in vaccine coverage. Vaccinations for kids ages 5 to 11 started only this month, and a rollout of booster shots remains limited.