Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria A. Concepcion called for more transparency in terms of determining the alert levels under the new community quarantine regime.
In a news statement on Wednesday, the Go Negosyo founder said there must be a “clearer way” of identifying the alert level so businesses can have better preparation.
“We have to agree on certain parameters to determine the alert levels that is easier to understand,” Concepcion said. “Our goal is to do the reopening safely and limit the mobility of the unvaccinated to protect them from risks.”
The Alert Level System (ALS) was implemented last month. It is broken down to 5 levels, with Alert 5 being the most alarming and restrictive.
Recently, Concepcion said he met with OCTA Research fellow Nicanor Austriaco and Dr. Alethea de Guzman of the Department of Health (DOH) to tackle the issue.
They discussed suggestions to determine alert level classifications via a “more scientific and transparent method.”
The parties said that the following should be considered: number of active cases, vaccination rate and hospitalization status of positive cases.
“We propose to link alert levels to percentage of total active cases in the National Capital Region that require hospitalization,” Austriaco said. “With this number as our basis, we have to establish a reopening strategy that ensures that we do not exceed this bed capacity in [Metro Manila].”
Metro Manila is under Alert Level 4 until October 15.
Outdoor dine-in and personal care services—including barbershops, hair spas, nail spas and beauty sales—are allowed 30 percent capacity. For indoor capacity, operations are capped at 20 percent for fully vaccinated individuals only.
Gyms and fitness studios, meanwhile, are given 20 percent operational capacity for non-contact exercises and fully vaccinated customers. Previously, Lopez stressed the need to reopen the gyms as exercises are vital to build better immune system amid the pandemic.