Manila to further ease Covid restrictions

Manila, Feb 23 The Metro Manila mayors have unanimously agreed to further ease the Covid-19 pandemic alert level in the Philippines' capital region to 1 on a scale of 5 starting from March 1 as new cases have continued to decline.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority officer-in-charge Don Artes said the 17 mayors will discuss on Thursday the proposed new restrictions with the inter-agency coronavirus task force which will decide whether to implement the lowest pandemic restrictions that allow more businesses in the capital region to reopen, reports Xinhua news agency.

Metro Manila, home to over 13 million, has been under alert level 2 from February 1 until 28.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,534 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,655,709.

The DOH said 201 more people died, pushing the overall fatality toll to 55,977.

The number of active cases dipped to 55,449 as the country's positivity rate dropped to 6.1 percent.

The Philippines has witnessed four waves of the pandemic since 2020.

The country reported the highest single-day tally on January 15 this year with 39,004 new cases.

The Philippines, which has a population of around 110 million, has tested over 26 million people.