The entire Philippines will be under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 until the end of the year, Malacañang said Wednesday as the country continues to see a declining trend in virus infections.
All provinces and cities in the Philippines will be under the second-lowest form of pandemic restrictions from Dec. 16 to 31, 2021, Cabinet Sec. Karlo Nograles said.
Under Alert Level 2, children can still go outdoors for leisure activities, and industries are allowed to operate at bigger capacities based on guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 response.
The Philippines is keeping relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for the holidays as the rest of the world moved to thwart the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
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While Manila has yet to report any case of the Omicron variant, Health Sec. Francisco Duque III had said that its arrival is only a "matter of when." The government is ramping up its inoculation drive with a second round of mass vaccinations in preparation for Omicron.
As of Tuesday, the Philippines has fully vaccinated some 42 million individuals against an initial target of 50 million by Christmas.