Easing restrictions
THE government, through the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, has decreed two new conditions before local government units (LGUs) are allowed to move to “Alert Level 1.”`
Yes, an LGU must first vaccinate 80 percent of its senior citizens and at least 70 percent of the eligible population have been fully inoculated to be able to downgrade the alert level.
If LGUs cannot achieve these metrics, then we cannot let them be placed under “Alert Level 1,” according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III of vote-rich Pangasinan.
NTF chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, a former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, described the additional metrics as the government’s “way forward.”
“Alert Level 1” means that all establishments in the LGU will be allowed to operate at full capacity, but the nation’s minimum health and safety protocols must still be implemented.
These are the wearing of mask and observance of physical disancing in line with efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to claim the lives of people across the globe.
It is certainly time to step up the tempo of the national government’s vaccination program if we are to return to normalcy after two years of crippling lockdown.
As the government said, the key to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic is the achievement of herd or community immunity.
“Makakamit lang ito kung mababakunahan ng gobyerno ang 70 percent ng populasyon ng bansa na umaabot na ngayon ng mahigit 110 milyun,” said a barangay health worker.
In the interest of a healthy population, let’s all support the multi-pronged nationwide vaccination program.
