NO MORE CQs: WV shifts to COVID Alert Level system

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Western Visayas will start implementing the Alert Level system from Nov 1 to 14, 2021, after a year and a half of implementing the community quarantine system in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Malacañang Palace on Friday, Oct 29, announced that all areas in the region would be placed under corresponding Alert Levels.

Bacolod City would be under the highest level, Alert Level 4, while Iloilo City would fall under Alert Level 3.

The rest of the region (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo province, and Negros Occidental) would fall under Alert Level 2.

The national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) also issued Resolution No. 146-A on Friday to implement the new system in the region and other areas in the country.

This would be the first time that a new system would be placed in the region, 596 days after Iloilo province implemented the first General Community Quarantine (GCQ) in the region on March 15, 2020 via Governor Arthur Defensor Jr.’s Executive Order No. 028-C series of 2020.

ABOUT THE ALERT LEVEL SYSTEM

The IATF-MEID’s Guidelines on the Pilot Implementation of Alert Levels System for COVID-19 Response in the National Capital Region, issued on September 13, defines the system as the new CQ classifications for dealing with COVID-19, covering entire cities and municipalities, aimed to manage and minimize COVID risk through System Indicators, Triggers and Thresholds.

These are determined by the IATF-MEID’s Sub-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics to specify the public health and social measures to be taken in relation to the COVID-19 response.

Alert Level 4 areas are those where COVID case counts are high and/or increasing, with the high utilization rate of COVID-dedicated beds and intensive care units. Alert Level 3 is similar as to the case counts, but only describes utilization rates as “increasing” instead of high.

In areas under Alert Level 2, case transmission is low and decreasing, healthcare utilization is low, or case counts are low but increasing, or case counts are low and decreasing but total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate is increasing.

Persons below 18 years old and over 65 years old, those with immunodeficiencies, comorbidities, or other health risks, and pregnant women are generally prohibited to go out under Alert Level 4, but are given leeway to access essential goods or services or work in permitted industries and offices.

Under Alert Levels 2 and 3, movement of persons shall be allowed except for reasonable restrictions based on age and comorbidities, as may be determined by local government units (LGUs), which should not be stricter as those prescribed under Alert Level 4 and subject to the oversight, monitoring, and evaluation of their respective regional IATF-MEIDs.

Intrazonal and interzonal travel for persons not otherwise required to remain at their residences in all areas may be allowed subject to the reasonable regulations of the LGU of destination.

Individual outdoor exercises shall be allowed for all ages regardless of comorbidities or vaccination status but shall be limited within the general area of their residence, e.g. within the barangay, purok, subdivision, and/or village.

But under Alert Level 4, minimum public health standards and precautions such as the wearing of face masks, and the maintenance of social distancing protocols must be strictly observed.

The following establishments are prohibited under Alert Level 4, but are allowed at some capacity under lower alert levels, with an additional allowed capacity if the establishments have Safety Seal Certifications:

• 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;
• Indoor limited face to face or in-person classes, examinations, and other education-related activities at all levels, except those previously approved by the IATF and/or of the Office of the President;
• Casinos, horse racing, cockfighting and operation of cockpits, lottery and betting shops, and other gaming establishments except as may be authorized by the IATF or the Office of the President;
• Social events such as but not limited to concerts and parties, wedding receptions, engagement parties, wedding anniversaries, debut and birthday parties, family reunions, and bridal or baby showers, parades, processions, motorcades, and gatherings at residences with any person outside of one’s immediate household;
• Indoor sports courts or venues, fitness studios, gyms, spas or other indoor leisure centers or facilities, and swimming pools;
• All contact sports, except those conducted under a bubble-type setup as provided for under relevant guidelines adopted by the IATF, and approved by the LGU where such games shall be held;
• Personal care services, which include medical aesthetic clinics, cosmetic or derma clinics, make-up salons, reflexology, aesthetics, wellness, and holistic centers, and other similar establishments; acupuncture and electrocautery establishments, and massage therapy including sports therapy establishments. It also includes establishments providing tanning services, body piercings, tattooing, and similar services. Home service for these activities are likewise not permitted; and
• Specialized markets of the Department of Tourism such as Staycations.

All establishments or activities which are not prohibited by the guidelines or by granular lockdowns implemented by LGUs under lower alert level statuses may be allowed at 100 percent capacity, provided that they adhere to minimum public health standards.