The Manila Times

Concepcion: Keep Alert Level 2 in Metro Manila

PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria “Joey” Concepcion 3rd said the government should retain the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 2 for the remainder of the year to keep the country’s economy open amid the threat of Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19.

Concepcion, who wanted the Metro Manila alert level lowered, said retaining the current status “will be most prudent” for now.

He said that business establishments are already seeing about 80 percent of pre-pandemic sales as more people are allowed to get out which helps consumer spending to pick up.

“Kinonsulta ko ang ibang restaurant owners at ibang business establishments. Ang tingin namin okey na rin ang Alert Level 2 at maganda na nga ngayon ang mga kalagayan ng mga business establishments kasi dumadami na ang mga tao na lumalabas (I consulted some restaurant

owners and other business establishments, and we think Alert Level 2 is okay. Business establishments are doing well because more people are going out),” Concepcion said during a virtual press briefing on government-run PTV-4 on Friday.

“There is more mobility ,which is good, and that’s what we need and consumer spending has started to pick in. So, maganda na

ang cash flow ng mga MSMEs natin (there is smoother cash flow among MSMEs),” he added, referring to the micro, small and medium enterprises.

But while the bounceback is “fast,” Concepcion said the country cannot keep on flip-flopping on the reopening of businesses if it wants to maintain economic growth.

“Now, iyong pinaka mas malaking challenge natin (the biggest challenge) is how do we sustain this moving forward. Kaya (This is why), while we can qualify for Alert Level 1, prudence says stay at Alert Level 2

so that we can sustain this even until the year 2022,” he said.

“We cannot prevent Omicron from entering... We’ve seen that with Delta. The most we can do is delay the entry of Omicron... So, right now, very clear that vaccination is the key to opening up the economy,” he added.

Concepcion, founder of Go Negosyo, had pushed to downgrade the alert level in NCR to 1 come December.

However, the government decided to keep Metro Manila and the rest of the country under Alert Level 2 until December 15.

This comes as health experts recommended that the capital region remain under the same alert level due to the Omicron threat.

On Thursday, the government imposed stricter testing and quarantine rules for international travelers arriving from yellow and green countries.

The green list is composed of countries, territories and jurisdictions with low risk of Covid-19 infection, while the yellow list is composed of destinations with moderate risk of Covid-19 infection.

CATHERINE S. VALENTE

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2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281517934406931

The Manila Times