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Biz sector says prudent to keep NCR under Alert Level 2 amid omicron threat: Duterte adviser

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA— The Philippine business sector feels that retaining Metro Manila under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 is the &quot;most prudent&quot; option amid the threat of a new COVID-19 variant, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said Friday.</p><p>While businesses are trying to recoup losses due to pandemic-wrought closures, the sector is also &quot;after the safe opening of the economy,&quot; Concepcion, founder of GoNegosyo, said in an online forum.</p><p>&quot;When consulting with business sector members, they feel that Alert Level 2 would be the most prudent at this point in time,&quot; he said.</p><p>Under the Department of Health&#x27;s (DOH) guidelines, people in areas under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 would be allowed to:</p><ul>	<li>hold events, meetings and gatherings in select venues</li>	<li>open tourist attractions such as amusement parks, museums, galleries, exhibits, parks, plazas, public gardens, scenic viewpoints</li>	<li>open cinemas and movie houses with limited capacity</li>	<li>hold limited face-to-face or in-person classes subject to prior approval of the Office of the President</li></ul><p>Once an area is placed under COVID-19 Alert Level 3, most recreational activities will have to be suspended, while venues that will be allowed to operate will have to limit capacity to between 30 and 50 percent.</p><p>&quot;When the Omicron threat is well determined... then we can take a more aggressive stand,&quot; he said.</p><p>The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier described the variant as “very high” risk, saying it could dodge immune defenses and spread faster than earlier strains.</p><p>Several local government units are considering re-imposing &quot;reasonable regulations, especially on the entry of people to their territories&quot; to ensure that the new strain, first detected in South Africa, would not spread in communities, said Marinduque Gov. Presbitero Velasco, head of the League of Provinces of the Philippines.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/12/03/21/omicron-could-lead-to-tighter-travel-restrictions-gov">Omicron could lead to tighter restrictions for travelers: gov</a></li></ul><p>Local experts, however, said that they need to further study the new COVID-19 variant, including its capacity to override existing vaccines, as there are still only 200 people infected with the strain worldwide.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/03/21/s-africa-body-risk-of-reinfection-from-omicron-higher">South Africa&#x27;s health body sees threefold higher risk of reinfection from Omicron</a></li></ul><p>The challenge for the government is to sustain the current alert level in the capital region, said Concepcion, noting that &quot;many businesses and business owners are quite happy now.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Many entrepreneurs are still doing well especially with higher capacities right now, more consumers going out, consumer spending is picking up, election spending is there,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That is the challenge: sustaining this. That is more important than achieving Alert Level 1,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1844892" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The Philippine business sector feels that retaining Metro Manila under COVID-19 alert level 2 is the 'most prudent' option instead of further easing health restrictions during the holiday season amid the threat of a new COVID-19 variant, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said, Friday.

Biz sector says prudent to keep NCR under Alert Level 2 amid omicron threat: Duterte adviser

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Biz sector says prudent to keep NCR under Alert Level 2 amid omicron threat: Duterte adviser

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 03, 2021 02:28 PM PHT

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Joey Concepcion

omicron

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COVID-19 omicron variant

health

business

entrepreneurship

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