The Philippines Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has announced an end to all lockdowns nationwide – the first time it has achieved such status since early March 2020.
The update was delivered by DILG Secretary Eduardo Año during a Cabinet meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, according to state-run Philippine News Agency, with restrictions having been eased in six areas that had been under granular lockdowns a week earlier.
“From April 10 up to April 16, for the first time, there were no recorded granular lockdowns in the whole Philippines,” Año said. He also reported a 16% decline in violations for people failing to wear face masks and 47% decline in physical distancing offences.
The milestone comes as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday reclassified the Philippines as “low risk” under its travel risk assessment system due to declining COVID-19 cases.
The Philippines averaged just 224 daily cases nationwide for the week from 12 to 18 April 2022. PNA noted that the country’s low risk assessment compared favorably with the likes of European nations Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea and Thailand, which are categorized as high risk by the CDC.
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the Philippines’ Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) had dropped all capacity restrictions in the capital city of Manila from 1 March 2022.
