Philippines health authorities urges vigilance as Covid-19 restrictions ease to minimum

People wearing face masks as protection against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) ride on a jeepney, in Manila, Philippines,on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. - Reuters

MANILA, March 1 (Xinhua): Philippine health authorities on Tuesday urged people to remain vigilant amid the easing of the Covid-19 restrictions to accelerate the economic recovery from the two-year pandemic.

The government downgraded the pandemic restrictions in Metro Manila and 38 other areas to alert level 1 from March 1 to 15 as Covid-19 transmission slowed and the hospitalization rate declined. The rest of the country is under alert level 2.

Lowering the alert level means that more people can go back to work, take public transport, and more businesses can operate at full capacity.

"As the country shifts to alert level 1, we continue to urge the public to remain vigilant, so we can slowly but surely transition into the new normal," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online press conference.

Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the government's measures to combat Covid-19, said the decision to lower the rules to the minimum comes one year after the government launched the vaccination rollout on March 1 last year.

Galvez noted the Philippines received its first batch of Covid-19 vaccine on Feb. 28 last year from China.

"Donated by the Chinese government, the Covid-19 jabs enabled the Philippines to roll out its vaccination drive the following day," he said.

China has delivered tens of millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the Philippines, remaining its biggest supplier of vaccines.

The Philippines, with a population of around 110 million, has administered nearly 136 million doses of vaccines. More than 63 million people are now fully vaccinated.

Galvez expressed confidence that the government can hit its goal to inoculate 90 million Filipinos by the end of the second quarter.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said relaxing the restrictions will accelerate and sustain economic growth this year.

"This situation is good for our country. Alert level 1 will benefit 62 percent of the economy and 20.3 million workers who will earn more," Chua told a televised press conference, adding that transport, hotels, malls, and restaurants are expected to recover further.

Chua said the shift to alert level 1 in more parts of the country will generate an estimated 9.4 billion pesos (US$183 million) per week of economic activity in gross value-added terms.

The new rules will also improve the performance of key sectors like tourism.

According to Chua, the contribution of domestic tourism to the economy fell by 1.5 trillion pesos (US$29 billion), or 7.4 percent of the gross domestic product in 2020. With the easing of restrictions, he said at least 750 billion pesos (US$14.6 billion) can be recovered.

The Philippines has reported over 3.66 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 56,451 deaths. - Xinhua