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Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday, September 14 announced that Metro Manila will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) with alert level 4 when the pilot implementation of the alert level system in the capital starts on Thursday September 16.
It was on Friday, September 10 when the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) “provisionally approved” the guidelines for the pilot implementation of the said system.
Per Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, there will now only be two quarantine classifications in the region: enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and GCQ based on the city or municipality's alert level.
"In this new classification framework, we proactively advocate the Principles of 3C’s (Closed, Crowded and Close Contact) Strategy, which shall be applied in Metro Manila starting September 16, 2021," Roque said in a statement.
The health department is responsible for identifying and announcing the alert levels on a weekly basis under the pilot.
Here what you need to know about the rules for each alert level system:
Alert Level 1
The lowest alert level is imposed in areas with low case transmission, bed utilization rate, and intensive care unit utilization rate
Movement of people under this alert level will be allowed except in closed spaces or on activities that enable close contact.
Not including those in areas under granular lockdowns, all establishments and activities are allowed to operate at full capacity provided it follows minimum health standards.
Alert Level 2
Alert Level 2 is raised in areas with low case transmission, low health care utilization, low case counts but increasing, or low case counts and decreasing but the total bed and intensive care unit occupancy rate is increasing.
Under this alert level, individual outdoor exercises are allowed 2 regardless of age, comorbidities, or vaccination status.
Not including areas under granular lockdowns, the following will be allowed to operate, work, or be undertaken at a maximum of 50% on-site or venue/seating capacity:
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Indoor visitor or tourist attractions, libraries, archives, museums, galleries, and cultural shows and exhibits;
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Indoor venues for meetings, incentives, conferences, events (MICE);
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Indoor entertainment venues with live performers such as karaoke bars, clubs, concert halls, theaters, and cinemas;
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Amusement parks or theme parks, funfairs/peryas, kid amusement, industries such as playgrounds, playroom, and kiddie rides;
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Indoor recreational venues such as internet cafes, billiard halls, amusement arcades, bowling alleys, and similar venues;
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Indoor limited face to face or in-person classes, examinations, and other education-related activities at all levels;
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Casinos, horse racing, cockfighting and operation of cockpits, lottery and betting shops, and other gaming establishments;
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In-person religious gatherings;
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Gatherings for necrological services, wakes, inurnment, and funerals for those who died of causes other than COVID-19;
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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, and gatherings at residences with any person outside of one's immediate household;
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Indoor dine-in services of food preparation establishments such as commissaries, restaurants, and eateries;
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Indoor sports courts or venues, fitness studios, gyms, spas or other indoor leisure centers or facilities, and swimming pools;
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Personal care services. It also includes establishments providing tanning services, body piercings, tattooing, and similar services.
Establishments with Safety Seal Certifications will be allowed to operate an additional 10% beyond the prescribed capacity.
Alert Level 3
Under this alert level, movements of people will still be allowed except for reasonable restrictions based on age and comorbidities.
Individual outdoor exercises are also allowed 2 regardless of age, comorbidities, or vaccination status.
Among the still prohibited establishments and activities are: cinemas, and venues with live performers such as karaoke bars, bars, clubs, concert halls, and theaters, and (ii) outdoor and indoor amusement parks or theme parks, funfairs/peryas, kid amusement industries such as playgrounds, playroom, and kiddie rides will still be banned.
Nonetheless, the following establishments will be allowed to operate at 30% capacity, excluding areas with granular lockdown:
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Indoor visitor or tourist attractions, libraries, archives, museums, galleries, and cultural shows and exhibits;
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Indoor venues for meetings, incentives, conferences, events (MICE);
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Indoor recreational venues such as internet cafes, billiard halls,
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amusement arcades, bowling alleys, and similar venues,
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Indoor face to face or in-person examinations approved by the IATF;
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Casinos, horse racing, cockfighting and operation of cockpits, lottery and betting shops, and other gaming establishments;
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In-person religious gatherings;
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Gatherings for necrological services, wakes, inurnment, and funerals for those who died of causes other than COVID-19;
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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, motorcades, and gatherings at residences with any person outside of one's immediate household;
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Indoor dine-in services of food preparation establishments such as commissaries, restaurants, and eateries;
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Indoor sports courts or venues, fitness studios, gyms, spas or other indoor leisure centers or facilities, and swimming pools;
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Personal care services which include beauty salons, beauty parlors, medical aesthetic clinics, cosmetic or derma clinics, make-up salons, nail spas, 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.
Alert Level 4
For alert level 4, people below eighteen (18) years old or over sixty-five years (65) of age, with immunodeficiencies, comorbidities, or other health risks, and pregnant women are not allowed outside their residences unless they are obtaining essential goods and services, or for work in permitted industries and offices.
Individual outdoor exercises are allowed regardless of age, comorbidities, or vaccination status but limited within their place of residence such as barangay, purok, or subdivision/village.
Among the businesses prohibited to operate under this alert level are: medical clinics, make-up salons, wellness and therapy centers, tattooing and body piercing establishments, entertainment and recreational venues, mass gatherings, meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibits, staycations, and indoor tourist attractions.
Moreover, outdoor dine-in services, barbershops, hair spas, nail spas, beauty salons, and physical religious gatherings are allowed to operate for up to 30% of their outdoor seating capacity, provided that workers in these businesses and services are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Alert Level 5
For the highest alert level, the guidelines applicable to Enhanced Community Quarantine as provided for under the IATF Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines will be observed.
These are the areas with increasing case counts and critical bed and ICU utilization rates.
Granular lockdowns
The Covid-19 task force guidelines state that granular lockdown is a micro-level quarantine for areas identified as “critical zones” by the local government unit (LGU) . It may be declared “regardless of Alert Level” and must last for at least 14 days.
City and municipal mayors have the authority to impose lockdowns in a barangay, a village, a street, a block, or even a house, subject to the concurrence of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF). Granular lockdowns must be provisionally effective immediately.
The IATF also assured affected households that assistance from their respective LGUs and the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be given when under the measure.
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