MANILA - Businessmen from the information technology, business process outsourcing, and restaurant industries on Thursday called for the shortening of the 1-meter physical distancing requirement.

IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines Executive Director Ricky Salvador said they wanted their workers to be half a meter away from each other instead of 1 meter to maximize space.

This, as more businesses required their workers to return to the office.

Salvador argued most of their workers are already vaccinated against COVID-19. He also said that as long as health and safety measures are observed, the spread of the disease can be tempered despite the arrival of the omicron variant in the country.

• Philippines confirms first 2 cases of COVID-19 omicron variant

Restaurant industry group Resto.ph also called for a shorter social distancing requirement.

Its president Eric Teng said that even though the government allowed restaurants to increase capacity of guests, they are only able to reach 50 percent because of the 1-meter rule.

He added some customers have no problem being closer with others as long as only vaccinated people are allowed inside establishments.

Teng also said no surge in COVID-19 cases could be attributed to the opening of restaurants or families dining-in.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said he supports the call of the industries.

Former Health Sec. Manuel Dayrit said shortening social distancing requirements is possible since the 1-meter rule is only observed at a time when the Philippines has a limited number of vaccines.

The Philippines has so far received nearly 177.3 million doses of different COVID-19 vaccine brands, as of Dec. 15, of which, over 123.2 million have been distributed across the country.

More than 42.5 million people are already fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease, accounting for 55.19 percent of the government's high-end target of 77.1 million, data monitored by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group showed.

More than 55.6 million others have received their first dose.

For infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, businesses should be cautious about shorter social distancing at a time when the omicron variant is present in the country.

He said it is better to maintain the 1-meter rule to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

The omicron variant has 50 mutations, including 30 in the spike protein region, which might cause "increased transmissibility and immune evasion," the DOH earlier said.

It "may be over 10 times more transmissible" than the original variant or 4.2 times more transmissible than the delta variant, which is dominant in the country, said Dr. Alethea de Guzman, director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.

The country has recorded a total of 2,837,016 confirmed COVID-19 cases, as of Thursday, of which 10,095 are active. The positivity rate, as of Dec. 14, stood at 0.9 percent.

- With a report from Alvin Elchico

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