The government may ease restrictions now that the number of daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases has been decreasing, but this should be done gradually, a member of the OCTA Research group said Friday, May 28.
OCTA Research fellow Prof. Guido David said the number of cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) has declined to around 1,000 cases per day.
David reported that the positivity rate in Metro Manila has dropped to 10 percent while the reproduction number currently hangs at 0.56.
Following the surge in cases recently, he pointed out that the situation in the metropolis has improved with NCR now classified under “moderate risk.”
“Pwede naman nating luwagan kasi bumababa pa yung bilang ng kaso (We can relax because the number of cases is still decreasing),” David said in an interview over DZBB.
While OCTA is in favor of gradually relaxing the existing restrictions, David said that the quarantine status should not be further downgraded to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) as of this time.
“Hindi muna tayo siguro aabot ng MGCQ kasi masyadong mabilis kung MGCQ (Maybe we should not shift to MGCQ right now because shifting to MGCQ is too fast),” he said, noting that COVID-19 cases in NCR remain high at around 1,000 cases per day.
“Mas malaking mag risk na magkaka resurgence kung mag MGCQ tayo (There is a greater risk of resurgence if we shift to MGCQ),” he added.
The OCTA fellow warned that the abrupt easing the health protocols might trigger another surge.
“Ang ginagawa natin balancing act. Gusto nating luwagan yung mga restrictions gradually para makarecover yung businesses natin pero at the same time gusto natin careful pa rin (What we do is the balancing act. We want to relax the restrictions gradually so that our businesses can recover but at the same time we still want to be careful),” he said.
“Calibrated yung pagluluwag natin para hindi tayo malagay sa panganib na magka risk na magka surge ulit kasi possible yun. Hindi pa naman nawawala yung virus. Pwedeng magka surge ulit (The easing should be calibrated so that we will not be put in danger of having another surge because that is possible. The virus has not disappeared yet. There could be another surge),” he added.
The GCQ status currently imposed over Metro Manila and four neighboring provinces will expire by end of May.