28 more areas elevated to COVID-19 Alert 3 from Friday

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.

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