By Robina Asido

The National Capital Region (NCR) and seven provinces in the country will be placed under Alert Level 2 starting February 1, but a wide area, including three under Alert Level Four, will be put under Alert Level Three.

Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles announced on Sunday that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) placed the Metro Manila and the provinces of Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal in Luzon; Biliran and Southern Leyte in the Visayas; and Basilan in Mindanao under Alert Level 2.

Nograles added that the alert level for Ifugao province for February 1 to 15 shall be approved by the IATF on January 31.

Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region, as well as the province of Northern Samar, were escalated to Alert Level 4 on January 20.

Except for Ifugao, those areas under Alert Level Four will go down to Alert Level Three starting February 1.

Chris Saruca, head of the Metro Manila Council Secretariat, told dzBB during the council's meeting, the hospital care utilization rate and ICU utilization has gone down.

Nograles said other cities and provinces to be placed under Alert Level 3 were Abra, Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet, Kalinga and Mountain Province in Cordillera Administrative Region; Dagupan City, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan in Region I; City of Santiago, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino in Region II; Angeles City, Aurora, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Olongapo City, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales in Region III; Batangas, Laguna, Lucena City and Quezon Province in Region IV-A; and Marinduque, Romblon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro and Puerto Princesa City in Region IV-B.

Other areas under Alert Level 3 are the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Naga City and Sorsogon in Region V; Aklan, Antique, Bacolod City, Capiz, Iloilo City, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Guimaras in Region VI; Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor in Region VII; Ormoc City, Tacloban City, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar and Western Samar in Region VIII; City of Isabela, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay in Region IX; Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental in Region X.

Also under Alert Level 3 are Davao City, Davao Del Sur, Davao Del Norte, Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro in Region XI; General Santos City, North Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat in Region XII; Surigao del Norte, Surigao Del Sur, Agusan Del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Butuan City in Region XIII and Maguindanao, Cotabato City and Lanao Del Sur in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

"These respective Alert Levels shall be in effect from Tuesday, February 1, 2022 until February 15, 2022," he said. DMS