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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Labor group hits Lorenzana for comments on NCR's readiness for GCQ

Labor group hits Lorenzana for comments on NCR's readiness for GCQ

Published Aug 10, 2020 06:30 pm

A militant labor group on Monday criticized Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana who expressed confidence that the National Capital Region (NCR) is now "ready" to ease its quarantine restrictions following a two-week "timeout" by the medical community.

Bukuran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) chairperson Leody de Guzman said Lorenzana should reconsider his views since a single day drop in the number of newly reported coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections does not reflect the overall situation in the country's fight against the epidemic.

"How can Mr. Lorenzana say that we are 'ready' just because of a single-day drop in reported cases? Even to the casual eye, the recent COVID-19 data shows that there is no such evidence to say that we are 'ready,'" de Guzman said in a statement sent to reporters.

In a televised interview, Lorenzana said that Metro Manila is ready to transition to a looser general community quarantine (GCQ) from the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) with a "downward trend" in the number of new cases.

Lorenzana, who is also the chairperson of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, cited the lesser number of new infections on August 9 at 3,109 from the record-high 6,352 cases on August 4.

"I think the trend (of cases) is going down. Yesterday (Sunday), we only have around 3,000 new cases down from 6,000 previously so I think we are ready to go down. We cannot continue with the MECQ," he said.

But de Guzman disputed the Defense chief's "hasty" conclusion.

"A mere single-day drop in reported new cases is not at all encouraging considering that the highest single-day record of new cases occurred," de Guzman said.

Further, de Guzman said Lorenzana's premature judgments seem to prioritize the restart of the economy as opposed to the capacitation of the health care system.

The labor leader then proposed a six-point strategy to help the health care system and the labor sector recover from the pandemic: 

1. Mandatory paid quarantine leaves to workers for the entire duration of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ);

2. Sufficient and unconditional social amelioration programs for all those affected by the ECQ;

3. Free mass testing, efficient contact tracing, and more isolation centers;

4. Re-channeling of public funds into capacitating health system;

5. Active hiring and regularization of public health workers and;

6. Tapping trade unions and community organizations in implementing community quarantine. 

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