3 Ilocos provinces under Alert Level 3 amid COVID-19 surge

Three provinces in the Ilocos region—Pangasinan, La Union, and Ilocos Norte—were placed under Alert Level 3 from January 14 to 31 due to increasing COVID-19 cases.

The average number of new cases in the region rose to 373 daily from just eight cases in December and 111 in the first week of January.

Health officials attribute the spike to increased mobility and gatherings during the holiday season when travel restrictions were relaxed.

As of January 12, active cases in the region reached 2,286 out of 96,506 total confirmed cases, with utilization rates for COVID-19 dedicated beds at 47%.

Face-to-face classes for basic education, contact sports, and indoor entertainment are among the activities not allowed under Alert Level 3.

Social events are restricted to 30% capacity indoors and 50% outdoors for fully vaccinated individuals.

Intrazonal and interzonal travels are permitted, subject to local government unit guidelines.

While the Omicron variant is suspected to be present, no confirmed cases have been reported in the region as of January 12.