A POSSIBLE escalation to Alert Level 2 in the National Capital Region (NCR) is unlikely even if cases have slowly increased, according to the Department of Health (DoH), clarifying an earlier statement it made on Monday.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) has also ruled to keep the Alert Level 1 status in Metro Manila for the remainder of June, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that despite an increase in the number of cases in Metro Manila, there is no need for the DoH to put the region under Alert Level 2.

For an area to be under Alert Level 2, it must have at least an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of above six cases per 100,000 population over the past two weeks, its bed utilization rate must have reached the moderate risk level, as well as full vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent in the A2, or senior citizen population and 70 percent among the target population.

Vergeire said that in Metro Manila, the ADAR is around less than 1 case per 100,000 over two weeks, while the current bed utilization remains under low risk.