MANILA, the capital and nearby areas will remain under Alert Level 2, the presidential palace said on Monday, as the country posted its lowest daily tally this year. 

A coronavirus task force had kept the lockdown level for the capital region until Feb. 28, presidential spokesman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said in a statement on Monday.

Metro Manila, which accounts for about a third of the country’s economic output, has been under Alert Level 2 since the start of the month amid decreasing coronavirus infections.

The region’s 17 mayors recommended that it be kept under Alert Level 2 for the rest of the month, saying relaxing the lockdown could result in so-called super spreader events especially with the start of the campaign period for the May 9 elections.

Health authorities have put Metro Manila under moderate risk classification, from critical in early January.

Under Alert Level 2, more business establishments may operate at higher capacities, ranging from 50% to 70% depending on whether these are operating indoors or outdoors.

Meanwhile, Iloilo City, Iloilo Province and Guimaras in central Philippines and Zamboanga City, Davao de Oro, Davao Occidental and South Cotabato in the nation’s south will remain under Alert Level 3.

All other areas will be under Alert Level 2 until Feb. 28.

The Department of Health (DoH) posted 2,730 new coronavirus infections on Monday — the lowest daily tally this year — bringing the total to 3.64 million.

The death toll reached 55,094 after 164 more patients died, while recoveries rose by 7,456 to 3.5 million, it said in a bulletin.

The agency said 10.7% of 28,620 samples on Feb. 12 tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-190, still above the 5% threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Of 76,609 active cases, 2,310 did not show symptoms, 69,574 were mild, 2,970 were moderate, 1,443 were severe and 312 were critical.

DoH said 96% of the new cases occurred on Feb. 1 to 14. The top regions with most infections in the past two weeks were Metro Manila with 467, Calabarzon with 330 and Central Visayas with 283 cases. It added that 52% of new deaths occurred this month and 32% in January.

Sixty-eight duplicates were removed from the tally, 52 of which were recoveries, while 121 recoveries were relisted as deaths. Two laboratories failed to submit data on Feb. 12. The country has started accepting fully vaccinated foreign tourists.

Mr. Nograles said in a separate statement an inter-agency task force had also approved the acceptance of vaccination certificates of Malaysia and Ireland.

The Philippines is scrambling to test more people as it reopens the economy.

It had fully vaccinated 60.01 million people as of Feb. 9, while 60.67 million have received their first dose, data from the Health department showed. About 8.01 million booster shots have been injected.

DoH last week said the coronavirus was not yet endemic because infections have yet to stabilize. The government is preparing for an eventual shift to Alert Level 1, which will become the so-called new normal.

On Thursday, the government took delivery of 3.4 million doses of Pfizer, Inc.’s coronavirus vaccines donated by the United States under a global initiative for equal access.

The government’s two-day vaccination campaign on Feb. 10 to 11 would be extended until Feb. 18, DoH said. — KATA

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