People walk past an advertising board promoting a COVID-19 testing service at a private medical center along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City on Jan. 12, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Twenty-eight more areas will be upgraded to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 starting later this week, Malacañang said on Wednesday, as the Philippines battled another wave of coronavirus infections.
The inter-agency task force on COVID-19 placed the following areas under Alert 3, effective this Friday until Jan. 31, said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.
LUZON
- Benguet, Kalinga and Abra in the Cordillera Administrative Region
- La Union, Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan in Region 1
- Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Quirino in Region 2
- Nueva Ecija and Tarlac in Region 3
- Quezon Province in Region 4-A
- Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro in Region 4-B
- Camarines Sur and Albay in Region 5
VISAYAS
- Bacolod City, Aklan, Capiz and Antique in Region 6
- Cebu City and Mandaue City in Region 7
- Tacloban City in Region 8
MINDANAO
- Cagayan de Oro City in Region 10
- Davao City in Region 11
- Butuan City and Agusan del Sur in CARAGA
- Cotabato City in BARMM
"All other provinces and cities not mentioned shall remain under their current alert level classification," said Nograles.
He said the COVID-19 task force will discuss the alert level for these areas on Thursday.
Metro Manila and several other areas are under Alert 3 at least until Jan. 15.
Alert Level 3 bans face-to-face classes, contact sports, funfairs, and casinos.
Cinemas are allowed to operate at 30-percent indoor capacity and 50-percent outdoor capacity.
The following are allowed at 30-percent indoor capacity but only for fully vaccinated individuals, authorities earlier said.
- Amusement parks
- Recreational venues
- Religious gatherings
- Licensure exams
- Dine-in services
- Personal care services
- Fitness studios, non-contact sports
- Film, music, TV production
The Philippines this week breached the 3-million mark for overall COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, the country logged its highest number of active cases so far as it also announced 32,246 new COVID-19 cases, data from the health department showed.