MANILA — Malacañang said on Wednesday it might announce around Valentine's Day the new COVID-19 alert levels for the rest of February.

The COVID-19 task force on Thursday will hold a preliminary assessment of the pandemic situation and meet again during the weekend to discuss the latest data from different regions, said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

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"Maaaring mag-announce kami ng mga bagong alert levels either February 13 or February 14, Valentine's Day. Abangan na lang po natin," he said in a radio interview.

"What we want to do kasi sa [Inter-Agency Task Force] is the closer to February 16 ang aming assessment para 'yong latest numbers na makikita po natin to make a final decision for alert level system for Feb. 16 hanggang katapusan ng Pebrero," added Nograles, acting Palace spokesman.

(We might announce the new alert levels either on February 13 or February 14, Valentine's Day. Let us just wait. What we want to do in the IATF is hold our assessment closer to February 16 so that we can see the latest numbers to make a final decision for Feb 16 until the end of February.)

Metro Manila and several other areas are under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 until Tuesday.

Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine unit of the San Lazaro Hospital, said this week it was "too early" and "too drastic" for Metro Manila to shift to the lowest of five COVID-19 alert levels.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Officer-in-charge Romando Artes said officials were expecting coronavirus infections to go down to around 1,000 a day in the capital region this February.

"Ine-expect natin na soon ay mag-Alert Level 1 na tayo, at ang mga alkalde naman po ng kalakhang Maynila ay handa para sa pagbubukas muli ng mga iba't-ibang industriya at sektor,” he said in a public briefing.

(We expect that we will go down to Alert Level 1 soon, and mayors of Metro Manila are prepared for the reopening of various industries and sectors.)

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