The Metro Manila Council (MMC) is set to meet before the end of the month to come up with a recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) regarding the alert level in the National Capital Region (NCR), according to Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.
"Magme-meeting po ang MMC before end of the month at based po sa data po natin magbibigay po tayo ng recommendation ng MMC sa IATF," Olivarez told DZRH in an interview.
(The MMC will meet before the end of the month, and based on our data, we will give a recommendation from the MMC to the IATF.)
This comes as the number of new cases in the NCR saw a drop over the past days, with the reproduction number of the virus also seeing a decline.
"Pero titignan pa rin po natin ang data po natin hanggang bago magkatapusan, kung tuloy-tuloy na po yung pagbaba kasi sa pagbabasa po ng ating experts nakapeak na po tayo sa Omicron," Olivarez said.
(But we will look at our data before the end of the month if the decline continues because as experts have said, we already reached the peak of Omicron.)
"Babantayan po itong one week na ito before nung ating culmination ng Alert Level 3 hanggang ditong end of the month," he added.
(We will monitor it in one week before the culmination of Alert level 3 until the end of the month.)
The NCR has been placed under Alert Level 3 early this month due to a surging number of COVID-19 cases, with the restriction to expire until January 31.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III previously told DZRH that a downgrade to Alert Level 2 could be possible if the average daily attack rate (ADAR) and two-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases go down.
According to Olivarez, a downgrade to Alert Level 2 would see the easing of capacity restrictions for businesses and the reopening of pilot schools for face-to-face classes.
OCTA Research said the reproduction of COVID-19 in NCR is now at 0.91, the first time since December 23. It also tallied 4,018 new COVID-19 cases in the region on January 24.
