The direction of the national government is to declare the entire Philippines under Alert Level 1, which could include Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday, April 11.
Only 5 of 31 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental are currently under Alert Level 1. The rest of the LGUs remain under Alert Level 2 until April 15 because of low COVID-19 vaccination performance.
However, now it appears that the national government wants all LGUs placed under Alert Level 1 regardless of their vaccination performances, Lacson said.
Lacson said he feels placing all areas under Alert Level 1 will make more Filipinos complacent as they try to push more people to get vaccinated.
Negros Occidental on Sunday only had 10 remaining active COVID-19 cases and he is hoping some day the province will hit zero, the governor said.
The National Economic and Development Authority, in a statement released earlier, said it backs a nationwide shift to Alert Level 1 to improve employment outcomes.
“We aim to shift the entire country to Alert Level 1 to enable even more Filipinos to find work,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said.
“To maximize the shift to Alert Level 1, we reiterate the need for the full and urgent resumption of face-to-face classes. This will allow one-fourth of the parents who stay at home supporting their children during online classes to work. This is crucial in light of the temporary inflationary pressures we are experiencing due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” Chua said.*