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Videoke bars in Metro Manila may now reopen as the region shifted on Friday to a looser COVID-19 alert level, Malacañang said as it urged clients of these establishments to keep their anti-virus masks on while inside.

Venues with live voice or wind-instrument performers and audiences such as in karaoke bars, clubs, concert halls, and theaters are allowed to accept fully vaccinated individuals at up to 50 percent of their operating capacity, the COVID-19 task force said on Thursday.

"Mababa nga po ang mga kaso ng COVID, pero anytime nga po pupuwedeng umakyat 'yan, knowing na meron pa nga ngayong mas matinding makahawang mga variant, so kailangan ingat pa rin," Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing.

(The cases are low, but anytime those can spike, knowing that we still have more contagious variants, so we still need to be careful.)

"Kung puwedeng kumanta na naka-face mask, kumanta na po kayo nang naka-face mask kasi bagama't nais nating mabuhay muli ang mga industriya gaya ng karaoke, ayaw naman nating maging superspreader events iyan," he added.

(If you can sing with a mask on, do it because while we need to revive industries like karaoke bars, we don't want them to cause superspreader events.)

• Here's what COVID-19 Alert Level 2 means