The Metro Manila Council (MMC) will convene this week to decide on whether or not to recommend to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) extending the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region Plus (with Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna) or shift to the Modified ECQ (MECQ).
(Photo by Jam STA ROSA / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview with DZBB, MMC chairman and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said that their recommendation will be based on the data that will be provided by the Department of Health (DOH) and the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) of the cities and municipalities in the NCR-plus..
He added that capacities of hospitals will also be considered by the MMC in its recommendation.
Due to the spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, President Duterte approved the extension of ECQ in the NCR-plus for another week which started on April 5.
The shift to MECQ by next week is possible, according to the OCTA Research Group.
OCTA research fellow Dr. David Guido said this will depend on the case reproduction rate if it goes down to 1.2 or even 1.1 or 1 by the end of the second week of ECQ.
As of Monday (April 5), the NCR's reproduction rate is at 1.53.