Iloilo City is eyeing a shift to Alert Level 0 but the Department of Health regional office in Western Visayas is still waiting for the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to issue guidelines on how to go about with the declaration.

Based on the growth in cases, average daily attack rate (ADAR), health care utilization rate (HCUR), and vaccination status, Western Visayas is on Alert Level 1, according to DOH Senior Program Health Officer John Richard Lapascua in a virtual presser on Monday.

“Currently, our IATF resolutions are for Alert Levels 1 to 4,” he said.

In another press conference on Monday, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he is preparing a letter to request for the new classification as their Level 1 status is until Tuesday only.

The mayor persuaded the national IATF to placed Iloilo City under Alert Level 1 on March 11 as it was already qualified based on the parameters.

“We deserve also to enjoy what they are enjoying in Metro Manila because cases are low, our HCUR is low, our ADAR is low,” he said.

As of Sunday, Western Visayas has 2,960 active Covid-19 cases, 426 of them in Iloilo City.

Once they shift to Alert Level 1, Treñas said the use of face mask will be optional and he would encourage the opening of face-to-face classes.

“We know that online education is not as effective as face-to-face,” he said. (PNA)